It Starts with a Smile

Ministry Tip of the Week

by Seth Evangelho

"You have sheltered  human beings within yourselves in a unique experience of joy and travail. This  experience makes you become God's own smile upon the newborn child, the one who  guides your child's first steps, who helps it to grow, and who is the anchor as  the child makes its way along the journey of life."

I begin with this quote from John Paul II's Letter to Women for two reasons. On the one hand, it reminds parents that their most important ministry is to their children. Parenthood is ministry. We lead our children to encounter the living Christ in the domestic Church and, as their first experiences of reality, we become for them God's own smile. May we never neglect our primary vocation for the sake of "ministry."

On the other hand, this quote is applicable to the Christian life as a whole. Mary, the model disciple, bears Christ to the world. We too must learn her "yes" to the Holy Spirit and become spiritual mothers and fathers for those embarking upon the Christian life: guiding their first steps, helping them to grow, being for them an anchor as they make their way along the journey of life, and yes, becoming for them (maybe in a less dramatic fashion) God's own smile.

Blessed Mother Teresa
of Calcutta

St. Maximillian
Kolbe

Blessed Chiara Luce
Badano

Ministry is about coming to recognize the needs of those around us. And everyone needs a smile - especially in hard times. Not "happy-go-lucky" cheeriness, but quiet, encouraging smiles that spark the hopeful confidence only faith can bring to such moments. Of course, even more than our own smiles, they need to experience the intimate love of Christ through us. For true ministry is not just other-centered, it's Christ-centered. He is our goal. May your face be radiant with God's own smile, and may you discover his hidden mirth behind the hope you inspire.