The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: “All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks.” Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church §1816
When it comes to being a disciple of Christ, there are many things to profess, bear witness to, and spread. As a priest and, with that, a follower of Christ, I hope to be able to do just that on this blog. As part of my priestly ministry, I want to share reflections on things such as the Gospel, the Saints, Church teachings, etc. I also wish to profess and spread faith in Christ as one whose life has been touched by following Him.
Throughout the Gospel, there are many instances of those cured by Jesus or witnesses of miraculous healing, going and sharing what happened. Word spread so much that there were times when the entire town was outside of the place He was staying (Mark 6:55). Other times, we hear of a person who is seeking Him out because of the reports they have listened to, drawn to Jesus so that they, too, might be cured.
What would have happened if the people in the Gospel had not heard about Jesus and the works He was doing? How would these other people come to know of Jesus if everyone who had been cured or restored said nothing? I suppose we won’t know the answer to that because those people went out and spread the news and testified to what happened and who did it.
My renewal began in the unlikeliest moments of my life. I say unlikely because I never would have imagined that being the moment when things started to turn around. While it did not all happen at once, things began to happen as I started my recovery from alcoholism. Now, over two years in, I know that my faith has returned to life in ways I never thought I needed. To share with you this renewal I am still living in is to share what brought me there.
Fr. John Gow
A DISCLAIMER: This is not a self-help or twelve-step blog. First and foremost, this blog is where I wish to share things related to faith and our call to live it out. If I do share something from the recovery world in a reflection, here is something I reworded from material that is said at many meetings I attend, “Since the opinions on the causes of and treatment of alcoholism vary so widely, any opinions expressed here are purely personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of AA as a whole.” Those things may get shared occasionally because I know my faith was restored and strengthened by their being lived out.