A ministry of presence

Each year I await with great anticipation the letter of Fr. Bob McCahill (NCR, Dec. 21). I see him as an example for the whole church and its mission.

Recently, a friend related to me his conversation at the office. He was telling his colleagues that they must believe in Jesus and be born again or they cannot go to heaven. I avoided argument by reciting the mantra of some sage, "Preach the Gospel always, and sometimes use words."

The Vatican II document "The Church in the Modern World" states that "the split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age." Fr. McCahill's ministry of presence is the ideal I have tried to keep before me each day. Erin Ryan's quote from Gandhi is so right: "If you want us to feel the aroma of Christianity, you must copy the rose. The rose irresistibly draws people to itself."

Fr. McCahill is doing it in Bangladesh. We can do it here. Jesus lived among us and went about doing good. "I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me."

BILL PICARD

Brecksville, Ohio

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