Week Forty-Four: Teaching/ Proclaiming/ Witnessing. October 29 – Preach the Gospel at All Times
In many countries where I have taught, people watched my eyes, my smile (or lack of it), my gestures, my neediness, my peace (or lack of it), and that became the primary message that affected them or disaffected them—much more than my theologizing and my sermons. Richard Rohr
Gregg’s Reflection
“The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning, he wakens-wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.” — Isaiah
“That which we are drawn to teach is that which we most need to learn,” Mark Ritchie, Spiritual Director.
St. Francis’s famous counsel, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words,” has often been quoted as a reminder that our faith is revealed in how we live, not merely in what we say. People notice more than we realize — the way we listen, the way we forgive, the way we show compassion in small, everyday ways.
Yet, Francis did not mean that words are unimportant. In fact, the deeper question is: What story do our lives tell? Do they draw attention to ourselves — our generosity, our kindness, our strength — or do they point to the One who is the source of all goodness?
Our lives can become sermons of grace. In the way we love our neighbors, in the patience we show in hardship, and even in how we handle disappointment, Christ is revealed. The goal is not perfection, but transparency — living so that Christ shines through us, unhidden, unhindered, unclaimed as our own.
Scripture
Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:16
May my teaching drop like the rain, my speech condense like the dew; like gentle rain on grass, like showers on new growth. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!
Deuteronomy 32:2–3
Ancient Quotes
Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.
St. Francis of Assisi, quoted in Richard Rohr, Eager to Love, p. 263
When every nation shall have heard the preaching of the Gospel, then shall come the end of the world.
Origen
Modern Quotes
What we are asked to do at present is not so much to speak of Christ as to let him live in us so that people may find him by feeling how he lives in us.
Thomas Merton, Christ in Evolution, p. 145
In many countries where I have taught, people watched my eyes, my smile (or lack of it), my gestures, my neediness, my peace (or lack of it), and that became the primary message that affected them or disaffected them—much more than my theologizing and my sermons.
Richard Rohr, Eager to Love, p. 199–200
Journaling Prompts
- When people observe my life, what story of God are they seeing?
- Have I ever had a moment where someone noticed Christ in me without me saying a word?
- Where am I tempted to let kindness bring glory to myself rather than pointing to Christ?
- How can I more intentionally let Christ live through me today?
Go deeper into this week’s theme:
Read the full Week 44 Reflection: Teaching/Proclaiming/Witnessing