Faith is caught not taught. This catchy proverb – most often cited in the context of youth ministry or ecumenical dialogue – emphasizes a relational strategy toward evangelization. Live the Gospel, and others will be moved by it.
It may be what St. James had in mind by writing: “Demonstrate your faith to me without works and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works” (James 2:18). The quote perennially attributed to St. Francis – “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words, if necessary” – echoes a similar tone.
Pope Francis may seem to be adding his own support to an assumption derived from such sayings that it is enough simply to set a good example and others will see the Jesus in us. His well-publicized comments about the need for a balance in our efforts to spread the Gospel, so that we do not isolate certain moral teachings from their larger context, may also be taken as a necessary caution about the limitations of merely repeating reprimands to motivate the behavior of others. It is the Gospel itself that gives off the fragrance (his word) which makes the faith so attractive. That Gospel is a proclamation of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
The Gospel has always been more than just a series of moral precepts, a set of new commands. It is a word proclaimed: the announcement of the Good News of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the World, who comes to bring God’s merciful forgiveness personally to everyone – relationally, so to speak, in His Person and through those whom His Spirit will send on mission to proclaim it.
The Holy Father has, in effect, both by word and example, set out to illumine the importance of both word and example – a faith that is both caught and taught – so that neither loses sight of the other. One theme that illustrates this strategical balance is his outreach to those who do not profess theological faith in Jesus, even atheists. Jesus is the Savior of all people, he has repeatedly announced. Without compromising the Truth – the Source of the salvation of the human race – he invites us to embrace by our charity those who do not profess that Truth either in word or action, or at least not fully.
One could already observe examples of a practical application of this balance between faith and works in the manner in which he chose to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. In more dramatic fashion than we are used to, we witnessed his calling of all people of good faith recently into St. Peter’s Square on a Saturday evening to pray silently so that an escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East would cease. His faith-inspired action can hardly be said to have been a mere demonstration.
No one can measure how many hearts are being changed by the fresh proclamation of the Gospel of the Mercy of Jesus Christ, whether by the pope himself, a local bishop or pastor, or any of God’s people willing to share the action of the grace in their lives, person to person. The faith that catches the world on fire is small enough to have been conceived as a tiny cell in the womb of the humble virgin of Galilee and large enough to have arms and a heart to embrace the whole world.