In Love

Are you in love? Like MAD in love?

One MODG student recently messaged me, saying, “We must find that drive to evangelize. When I think of how much God longs for me, and how much he does for me… it then dawns on me that God longs for each…of the people in this world. That he has a MAD love for every single person.” Gwyneth Sawicki, you’re the best!

In a movie I’ve loved since I was little, Love Comes Softly, based on the book by Jeanette Oaks, the main character explains the formation of a child in the womb to her stepdaughter by saying that “the love [between a husband and wife] spills over and makes a baby.”

Jesus’ extraordinary love for us and our desire to love Him back should “spill over” into sharing Him with others – similar to the way the love between a husband and wife “spills over.”

But that’s where it gets complicated.

Where am I supposed to evangelize? Should I set out on a search for a new ministry? Do I even have time for that? What is street evangelization?  

From personal experience, street evangelization is incredible! I’ve gone on a few outings with St. Paul Street Evangelization. Meeting and talking with people in my own community, or just listening to them talk to other team members, has changed my perspective on life in a positive way. How beautiful is it for us as the body of Christ to go out into the streets to His people; to seek them and love them and pray with them! I see both street evangelization and parish ministries as essential to evangelization in the whole Church.

However, those are not the only ways or places where this love should spill over! I’ve found that sometimes, God has already led me into places, normal settings or activities, where He wants to work through me in many ways.

For example, God has led me to opportunities such as MODG news, my theater group, my job at an orchard, and other activities. My question for myself is, how can I better share Jesus in all these facets of my life which God has so lovingly positioned?

So whether or not you resolve to dive into a new ministry, or simply let love spill over to your classmates, your teammates, and your friends, evangelization is for you!

Remember to always evangelize from a place of love. To listen before speaking. To pray before talking. To not speak at all if your purpose could be better served simply through loving actions.

Most of all, be who you are. Be recklessly and fearlessly yourself, set free by Christ and basking in His radiance.

There’s nothing more attractive than that.

I want to finish with a quote attributed to Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. that sums it all up:

Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.