The Power of Example

Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, Year C
Genesis 15.5-12, 17-18 Psalm 27 Philippians 3.17-4.1 Luke 9.28b-36

As baptized Christians, you and I are the most tangible and effective witnesses to the presence of Christ in our world. By living our faith, we can help bring peace, hope, joy and love to a world of suffering and pain. We can be the voice of truth in a world of doubt, the arms of compassion to a world in need. We can lead people to heaven by leading people to Christ. But we can also drive people away from God. We can make others suspicious of organized religion because of our hypocrisy. We can cause doubt and despair because of our failure to love. We can turn people off to Christ by the selfishness and greed of the lives we lead. Simply by the way we go about our daily lives, we can lead people to Christ or away from him. That is the power of human influence.

The story is told of a man many years ago who was in a long line at an airport, waiting for a shuttle to get to the terminal. Standing in front of this man was the late Cardinal Terence Cooke, archbishop of New York. One of the airport attendants came up to Cardinal Cooke and whispered to him that he could take him to the front of the line. Cardinal Cooke responded, “That’s very thoughtful of you and I appreciate it, but I can wait my turn.” That simple act of humility was noticed by the man standing behind the Cardinal in line, and it moved him so much that he began going to church, and eventually became Catholic himself.* Such a simple witness that can lead someone to Christ.

St. Paul knew the power of this witness. He urged the Philippians to imitate him and others who conduct themselves according to the model given us by Christ. He knew that the example of Christians most often is what would lead others to Christ. But, at the same time, the opposite is also true. People who call themselves Christian but occupy their minds with earthly things can lead people away from Christ. Professed Christians who are rude, haughty, greedy, and mean-spirited do damage not just to themselves but to the people around them. The worst kind of Christian is one who is Christian in name only but not in action. Of course no Christians are perfect – we’re far from it – but in humility we are called to do the best we can to be an effective witness to the presence of Christ in our world. If our friends or family members know that we go to Mass every weekend but also witness our constantly judgmental attitudes, then we have work to do in living as Christians. If our co-workers who have no professed faith have to put up with the anger and verbal abuse of a professed Christian, then it’s not likely that we will lead them to Christ. But if the people around us can witness our kindness, our love, our generosity, and our joy, then perhaps they, too, will want to know the God who is the source of all those blessings in our lives.

Ultimately, of course, it is Christ alone who saves us, it is Christ alone who draws people to him, it is Christ alone who leads anyone to heaven. But the simple fact of our human nature is that we often look to the people around us for an example to follow. In our Lenten journey, we strive to put aside all those things that distract us or the people around us from being able to follow Christ. And along the way we ask ourselves: what kind of a Christian example do we give?

*Story told by Archbishop Timothy Dolan in Priests of the Third Millenium and Called to Be Holy.