Dear Friends, 

There is a story of an Amish man who was asked, are you a Christian? The Amish man thought for a moment and looked at the interviewer and pointed to his neighbor’s house. He replied that the answer to that question can be found by asking his neighbor. For this Amish man, his belief is so tied with the way he loves his neighbor. 

PROCLAIMING what we believe, or say what we believe needs to be found in the way we interact with our neighbors. To PROCLAIM Jesus as Lord, yet be willing to mistreat or disrespect anyone, is not proclaiming Jesus as Lord. Yet we can find a number of people who claim to be Christian but the disconnect of living as Christ towards others is missing. If one was to ask our neighbors if they would say we are Christian, what would the answer be? 

PROCLAIMING deals with speaking and living truth. Sometimes our neighbors can speak the truth about our behavior towards others. We can find joy when the feedback is positive and affirming. If we find the feedback painful, this Advent might be the time to examine what we might do differently this year to give a better witness that we are Disciples of Jesus Christ.

Peace in Christ

Fr. Eric