Growing into a ‘professional’ Christianity

Certificates, licenses, degrees — these are part of what our society demands when we request professional services. It doesn’t matter how much time it took us to obtain a certificate, modern societies demand that we constantly update our credentials — a consequence of the whirlpool of change in science and technology.

We expect each person who holds a degree to be completely responsible for all words, actions and decisions they make related to their field, and we can’t conceive of a valid excuse for their lack of expertise.

We faithful Catholics possess certificates of baptism, first holy Communion, confirmation, marriage, and priestly ordination. Today in our parish communities we offer programs of certification for catechesis on different levels because the demand for professionalism is greater than ever.

With certificates in our possession there is no excuse not to be “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” (1 Peter 3:15) Just as in all the professional fields, we have the responsibility to renew continually our Christian credentials that accredit us as professionals of the faith.

New methods, experiences and zealThe great advances of our societies in the field of electronics, cyberspace, etc., also compel us to renew ourselves and perfect our existence as missionary disciples of Jesus by discovering new methods, new experiences and with them a new zeal when we announce that Jesus is our lord and savior.

Single Catholics are obligated by their love for Jesus to offer new ways to live purity in a world that demands a response against lewdness and perverseness. Contemporary societies and social media that exalt and promote instant, temporal and passing gratification demand new expressions of fidelity and perseverance from married couples. Believers and nonbelievers alike demand new zeal from their religious leaders, priests and religious, new methods and new expressions of contemplation, of fraternity, joy, peace, justice, solidarity, equality and human dignity.

The certifications we have are not enough; we need to be up-to-date. We need to constantly renew our credentials.

The visible presence of God, incarnate and revealed in Jesus Christ, allows us and obliges us to always be evangelizers, bearers of the good news communicated directly to our hearts from God. Those who truly love tirelessly invent new ways to give themselves lovingly.

A professional ChristianityWe, the loved and beloved of God in Jesus Christ, with all of our certifications, have the obligation to be professionals in universal charity, in forgiveness, in self-giving, in unity, in intimate communion with Jesus in prayer.

How many of our certifications have not been updated? Or even worse, how many have we forgotten and left at the bottom of a drawer without offering to those around us the richness we possess?

In his beautiful Confessions, St. Augustine says, “Late have I loved thee, O Wisdom so ancient and so new!” God is an immense ocean of wisdom who is always willing to inundate us with new methods and expressions. God is an unending torrent that washes and refreshes our love for the infinite, as he himself is infinite.

Let us dust off our valuable diplomas of God’s love. Let us hang them in our hearts so that all who see them will know they are in good hands. The professional hands of God at work through each one of us in the different fields of our lives will without a doubt make the world function in vigorous and admirable harmony.

Opportunities to work for others are not lacking for those who have obtained diplomas from the university of God’s love. The greatest graduate with the highest honors, Mary, shows us that everything is possible for those who believe in what they have received.

Eusebio Elizondo, M.Sp.S., is auxiliary bishop of Seattle and vicar for Hispanic ministry.

This is an English translation of a column that originally appeared in Spanish in the September 2014 issue of NORTHWEST CATHOLIC.