Most people fail not necessarily because they are incapable, but because they are not properly motivated and encouraged. Working with young people has taught me that what they need most is encouragement. Even when they fall short of expectations, they still need to be encouraged so that they can rise above their perceived limits. The same is the case in our day-to-day encounters with people. Naturally, people we interact with need encouragement. And uplifting messages rather than discouraging ones, even when they are not measuring up. Encouraging people helps them to believe in themselves and have courage to face their future. It creates confidence and produces greater results.
Apostolate of Encouragement
The Apostle Paul sees his ministry among the Thessalonians as one carried out with much compassion and encouragement. Despite the difficulties he encountered while working among the people, he always approached the apostolic task with many uplifting messages. This is his point when he says in the first reading of today: “You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children” (1Thess 2:10-11). We learn a lot from Paul who was both a spiritual father and a loving brother to his flock. He encouraged both the weak and the strong. Paul presented the message with love and understanding, knowing that the message itself is good news, a message of joy.
Being Compassionate
While the Christian message demands total obedience and commitment, there is often the danger of making it too rigorous and unpalatable. Jesus always emphasized the fact that the message was for sinners and not necessarily for the already righteous. This means that it has to be preached and presented with compassion, knowing that the hearers are weak mortals with fragile vessels. In the Gospel today, Jesus reprimands the Pharisees for their lack of compassion in their religious approaches. While they insist on a rigorous observance of the religious laws, they neglect the weightier aspects of the law, like justice and mercy. They lay unbearable burdens on the people and pretend that they carry the same burdens themselves. Their outward show of virtue contradicts their inner bundle of vices. Jesus rightly calls such attitude, hypocrisy. While religious guidance must be firm with the message of truth, it must be presented as a liberating message of life.
Pope Francis stresses the fact that the message must be presented as a gospel of joy. In one of his inspiring exhortations in the great encyclical, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis says: “Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without excluding anyone. Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet. It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but by attraction.”
What a beautiful exhortation! We cannot find better words to conclude this reflection. So, may this inspiring and uplifting joy of the Gospel continue to influence our daily encounters with people!
Thank you dear Fr Luke for this wonderful reflection and reminder. May we strive to cooperate with God’s grace so as to become effective apostles of encouragement to others.