He was Himself, and as Himself He served and saved—we are called to do the same
By Deacon Bob Hunt
The universal call to holiness is one that is to be heard and acted on by every person who claims Christ as his or her savior. What does it mean to be holy? Most simply, I think, it means learning every day how to love a little better. This is how we love others—by being Christ for them, bringing Christ to them, and seeing Christ in them.
Last month I wrote on being Christ for all. This month, I will write on bringing Christ to all. How do we do this? Again, it begins in the home. The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the Christian home the “domestic church” (no. 2204). It is, as Pope St. John Paul the Great called it, “the university of love.” The Catholic home is where we first encounter the faith, not only in the prayers and discussions about the faith that, hopefully, take place in the home but also in the witness of Christian action taken by the parents and observed by the child and impressed upon the mind and heart of the child. Simply being gracious to each other and treating each other with kindness is a start. As the family is often the most difficult place to practice these virtues, it can then be the place where those virtues become firmly entrenched.
For many Catholic families, the only experience of family prayer is grace over meals. I can say it in nine seconds, and that’s slow. I think we can all agree that, for formation in the faith, nine seconds of family prayer a day isn’t going to cut it. There is a simple formula of prayer that families can adopt, with the parents leading the way, of course. Begin with the sign of the cross, then read the Gospel of the day, then each member of the family gets an opportunity to offer his or her intentions, then perhaps a litany of family saints (St. Robert, pray for us … St. Margaret, pray for us … etc., including the saint of the day), then end with the Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and “May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life,” as the family makes the sign of the cross to close. If we are to bring Christ to others, we must be deeply formed in the faith. Prayer is an integral part of this formation. It prepares us, nourishes us, and fortifies us in our bringing Christ to others. Without a life of prayer, we cannot bring Christ to others because we will not have enough in ourselves to bring to others.
Then there is Catholic action. Taking the family to help serve at the parish food pantry, or the clothing ministry, or the pro-life march. All of these and more are opportunities to bring Christ to others, especially if we offer the salutation “God bless you” to those we serve, making our motives clear. Again, the children see this, and it makes an impression on how they are to live the life of Christ and not simply claim it.
Teaching the faith is a way of bringing Christ to others. The primary responsibility of teaching the faith to children belongs to the parents. I firmly believe that every child has a right to approach his or her mother or father with a question about the faith and receive an answer other than “Go ask Father.” Even if one doesn’t know the answer, there is a shelf wall of resources one can exploit to find the answer. Or, perhaps, in the end a parent can go to Father with their child for the answer (please let Father know beforehand that you’re coming with your question, so he can prepare, too!).
Teaching the faith, even in the formal environment of a classroom, is not only a matter of making sure the students know about the doctrines and dogmas, or simply obtaining the head knowledge of those who claim the faith. To live the faith means putting that knowledge to life in the words and actions of the man or woman of faith. This means teaching how to pray, how to practice the virtues, how to serve others. Bringing Christ to all means a life so transformed by one’s love and devotion to Christ that others desire
to know what is the energy that motors your life. Then you can tell them about Jesus. It means bringing yourself to others because you have
become the image of Christ in this world.
“Bring Christ to all” means loving others as Christ loves them. He was Himself, and as Himself He served and saved. We are called to do the same.
Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.
Deacon Bob Hunt is a husband, father, grandfather, and parishioner at All Saints Church in Knoxville. He is author of the book “Thy Word: An Introduction to the Bible for People in the Pews.”
