Believing in God

Gospel
02 August 2009
18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jn. 6:24-35

By:Lester C. Yee

“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

This is the answer Jesus gives when the people ask him how they will be able to accomplish the works of God and thus work for food that never perishes. Whoever then believes in the Bread of Life will never thirst. Crucial to this reflection then is the question on what it actually means to believe in Christ.

To believe in Christ is to believe in the message that His ministry has proclaimed. It is not simply to memorize the doctrines about Jesus Christ, His being both God and man, His being begotten not made among other things. To find out the core meaning of Jesus’ ministry, one must go back to the Gospel narratives.

From the viewpoint of the Gospel narratives, Jesus preached a message of love and repentance. Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry and liberated those under evil spirits. In believing in Jesus, we are called to follow His example of love and service. Thus, we can continue spreading the message of love, hope and liberation that Jesus preached during His earthly ministry.

It must be emphasized that the Catholic Church has a lot of teachings on these issues. These form an integral part of the Magisterium and are referred to collectively as Catholic Social Teaching (CST). Although not much emphasis has been given to this part of evangelization, the Church stresses that CST is part of integral evangelization as it sanctifies the temporal aspect of man. Indeed, faith without action is dead.

Thus, if you are reading this, I invite you to be part of God’s good work. Please send an email to lesteryee@gmail.com on how you can help in spreading God’s word. Questions regarding the faith (especially with regard to Catholic Social Teaching) will also be entertained.

Believe in God. Proclaim Him in your life. Share to us your experience.