Saturday of Week 33 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Apocalypse 11:4-12 | Psalm 143(144):1-2,9-10 | Luke 20:27-40
I, John, heard a voice saying: ‘These, my two witnesses, are the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the world. (Apocalypse 11:4)
At the Singapore Fintech Festival which concluded yesterday, I met a CEO who wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is. My partner and I questioned Stephane about his company’s financial data feed services, and he was brutally honest about what he knew (which was considerable) and didn’t know. He actually backed his statements up with live demonstrations from his company’s data portal, and deferred to his engineering team for some very specific technical details which we were enquiring on.
I think it’s the beginning of a beautiful working relationship.
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As Catholics, we too are enjoined to tell it like it is, to bear witness to our faith in God. Our personal comprehension may not be as complete as we’d like it to be, but we can still share what we do know with others.
But talk is cheap. Like Stephane, we need to back up our words with actual demonstrations of the love that we profess to be from God, the love that knows no colour nor social status, the love that IS. It’s one thing to proclaim that God loves us all, and quite another to show it through care and consideration to the less fortunate among us.
And when we are asked questions that we don’t know the answers to, there’s a wealth of sources to turn to, from our parish priests, to scripture and documented tradition (e.g. the Catechism). All it takes is a willingness to show and tell about the I AM, just as Stephane was willing to show and tell about his company’s products.
That’s how we can bring others to God, and build beautiful Christian relationships with each other.