Should I be involved in spreading the Faith?
St Paul at Athens, “saw that the city was full of idols. So, he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the market place every day with those who chanced to be there."
A child of God cannot be indifferent towards error, which leads souls astray. We can understand St Paul's yearning as he contemplated the panorama of his times: a cultured, civilized world such as that of the Athenians, but one that was devoid of God, and filled with idols and confusion. Immediately he sought an opportunity to teach them about the true God. For this purpose, he went to the Areopagus, where the Athenians used to gather for intellectual discussions.
So, Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said: ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. As I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription: 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.’
We cannot and do not want to keep silent about the truth. Neither human respects, differences in culture, language or race, nor the indifference or apparent coldness of some people, could make us shy away from doctrinal apostolate. We should remember that on hearing St Paul's discourse in the Areopagus, some mocked, but others said, "We will hear you again about this." Nevertheless, the Apostle's apparent failure does not cause him to waver in his zeal. St Luke tells us later that he argued in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
Like St Paul, we should each feel the overriding urgency of doctrinal apostolate. As Pope Leo XIII stated, “among the duties that bind us to God and to the Church stands first and foremost that of using all the means to defend the Christian truths and to refute errors."
St. Josemaría used to say: “To give doctrine is our great mission. And he added: You are salt, light, and leaven, and you cannot abstain from carrying that light, that salt, to the very furthest corner of your social activities."
Lack of doctrine has always been the greatest enemy of Christ's Church. St Pius X exhorts: “Observe, we pray and entreat you, and reflect on the great loss of souls due solely to ignorance of divine things." These great losses, and this need for the truth in so many souls, urge us to do apostolate and turn all our activity into an opportunity to spread the doctrine Christ has entrusted to the Church.
Thus, we need to know well the Christian doctrine of faith, and then, teach others. We must believe in and through Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. We need not consider the private opinions of this priest or that bishop, but the permanent, revealed, Faith of the Church, of the Apostles.
Pic: Christ handing the keys to Saint Peter, ceiling of the church of San Silvestro (Rome)
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