“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Gospel of John, chapter 13:35

We are called to be witnesses of Christ and that means we are called first to have a personal experience of Christ and then to share this experience with others. Many Christians, unfortunately, only go halfway as they focus on knowing Christ personally without a corresponding interest in sharing the faith. Yet, faith is like a flame: the more it spreads, the more brightly it burns.

Two disciples met the risen Lord on the way to Emmaus. We read that “while they were talking, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you'” (Luke 24:36). Christ makes himself present in the process of sharing the faith.

What does Jesus do to those who experience Him? First, He communicates peace to their troubled hearts. Then, He opens their minds to understand the Scriptures and how they point to Him. Finally He commissions them to be His witnesses. “You are witnesses of these things”(Luke 24:48). This is what Jesus did when he appeared after His resurrection. And, this is what He does when we gather together to worship in His name.

How do we witness to Christ? It is not by shouting and screaming and by threatening people with eternal hellfire. It is not by arguing with people over controversial theological issues. It is simply, as the two disciples on the way to Emmaus discovered, by sharing the story of our personal encounter with Christ. It is by showing them why we are Christians. It is, as the Lord says, by the love we have “for one another.”

Fr. Hugh Duffy

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