In today’s First Reading Paul reminds us that, for him, sharing the Gospel is not like handing out flyers for a restaurant on a street corner: a job promoting something that people could take or leave, and nothing more. The Gospel involves a commitment and a lifestyle, often a change of lifestyle for those who have not been born and raised as believers. The more convinced you are of its importance, the more you transmit the message by wanting to share it at all.
Living and sharing the Gospel is not something that gets easier with practice either. Like the athlete, the Gospel requires discipline and hard work in order to have a chance at success. There is a chance of losing the great competition of life, even after many years. Paul didn’t consider victory to be a given; it is a gift from the Lord.
If we let the Gospel shape our lives, we will transmit a formula for success. Let’s not be shy about sharing it.
Readings: 1 Corinthians 9:16–19, 22b–27; Psalm 84:3–6, 12; Luke 6:39–42. See also 23rd Week in Ordinary Time, Friday.