I have three children. My two sons are now three and four years old, and if there is anything in this world that love it is dinosaurs. They eat, sleep and breath dinosaurs. If we go on family walks, they stop strangers on the street to preach the ‘Gospel of Dinosaurs.’
As passionate as they are for dinosaurs, I don’t think they have converted anyone to dinosaurs. It doesn’t matter how cute they are, or how many names they know. They don’t have the tact to show people that there is beauty or truth in dinosaurs.
In today’s Gospel (Mk 1:14-20), when Jesus makes Simon and Andrew “Fishers of Men” I don’t think he made them street corner preacher. Jesus made them into men who would build his church. Authentic people who not only burned with the message of truth, but were also able to lived in a way that people recognized that there was something different about them.
Today, when we talk about evangelization, we are talking about the latter idea. People who share their faith in how they live, and how they talk. Not street corner preachers yelling at people walking by. This week I hope we can pray about how we can become more like these first “Fishers of Men.” For some of us, that may mean speaking up for what is right. For some of us it might be biting our tongue at times. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to learn more about dinosaurs, I know a few “experts.”
