Stopping by the Streets of London
 
Fr Augustine Mundackatt V C
 

I was going to St Paul’s Cathedral in London.On the street in front of the Cathedral I was stopped by the performance of a young boy and a girl. Both were university students. With the help of a portable mike the girl was singing, playing her guitar. She was chanting a hymn calling on the name of Jesus and invoking the Holy Spirit. The hundreds of people moving on the street hardly paid any attention to her. The young man stood by the street and was distributing some pamphlets and was talking with great zeal to those who gave him a few seconds. Let us call them Catherine and Henry.

I went up to him and asked,

"What is she singing about?"

"She is singing praises to God," the young man replied.

"And what are you busy about?" I inquired.

"Proclaming the Good News," he answered.

Finding that I was interested in listening to him he continued:

"Do you know about the love God showered upon us through Jesus Christ? Jesus is the solution to all our problems. We have this Good News to share with this world." Pretending to be an agnostic, yet with humility to learn from these youth and how they present Jesus to the world, I asked,

"What is the Good News?"

In the meantime a few more passers-by gathered around. And the girl continued to sing more fervently.

The young man looked at my eyes intensely and continued:

"This is the Good News! Jesus Christ is both willing and able to heal you,

forgive you,

deliver you,

set you free,

restore you,

help you,

strengthen you

and perform the miracle in your life which you require.

"There is no catch. Jesus has no hidden agenda. He loves you, and just as you would want the very best for your children, he desires the best possible life for you. ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good,’ the Bible urges us.

"At some time or other in their lives, most thinking people ask themselves the questions,

‘Why am I here?’

‘What is the purpose of life?’

and ‘Is there life after death?’

"The answers to these questions and to all the relevant questions about life, death and the after-life can be found in the world’s best selling book-the Bible".

"What is the Bible all about?"

Another young lady with blonde hair and worried eyes and worn- out face asked Henry while a few people listened eagerly .

Said Henry: "In the Bible we read that we were created by a loving heavenly Father to live with him, enjoy him and to spend eternity with him in bliss in Paradise. God has graciously given us a free will. So we are not compelled to love him and he has also given us the choice as to whether we wish to live according to his commands as laid out in his Word."

"Who is Jesus Christ?" asked a Nigerian Woman earnestly looking towards Henry.

He answered with cheer: "Every human being is separated from God because of his sinfulness and for that reason we all need a Saviour who can act as a 'bridge' for that gap of separation between us and our Creator. That saviour needs to be someone who can touch both sides of the 'bridge', as it were, and therefore he must be without sin, fully God and yet fully human, too, in order to reach mankind. Jesus Christ is that One. Nearly 2000 years ago he came to earth and offered his life as a sacrifice on the cross and paid the penalty for our sinfulness. That’s why the Bible tells us, ‘No greater love has a person than that he lays down his life for his friend.’"

"Why did Jesus do this?" asked another man who was listening carefully.

Now Henry became more eloquent as he had to share his Jesus-experience.

"Simply because as your Creator he loves you deeply and intensely and you are very special and unique to him. Had he not offered his life in sacrifice, we would have remained separated from God forever with no hope of reconciliation. Those who tragically refuse the offer of reconciliation and forgiveness, remain in the condition of separation-a separation which lasts for all of eternity-and that means hell. Some refuse out of disbelief; others due to stubbornness or others because they just enjoy sinful activities.

"Nevertheless, one thing is common to all people who do not know Jesus as their Saviour. Their lives are empty, however much they may try to disguise it. They continue to search for meaning in life, purpose and fulfilment-and yet the missing piece to everyone’s jigsaw puzzle is to have Jesus, our Creator, in our empty hearts.
 
 

Jesus the Solution

"There is, thank God, a solution to your situation. Jesus Christ can save you, heal you, fulfil you and, though you may never have been aware of it, is the very ‘something’ you have been searching for all of your life.

"If you call out to him now, even in the privacy of your own home-he will respond to your cry."

At the end of the sharing I told Henry that I was a Catholic priest from India, presently in England, conducting Bible preaching and healing service. Then it was my turn to tell them about what we are doing. Later I gave them a copy of the Vachanotsavam magazine and invited them for the next healing Mass. We stood on the street holding hands and prayed together, before we left.

To my great surprise, to our next prayer meeting Henry came with a group of people among whom many were non-Catholics and non-Christians. Henry and Catherine said that they would set apart at least one hour every day to talk about Jesus Christ and to share their Jesus-experience with others. He said, "It is my duty and I am urged to do it every day. If I neglect to do it even one day I don’t deserve to have my food. It is time for evangelization, to proclaim Jesus to the whole world."

"For, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!’" ( Rom 10:13-15).

Almighty God is loving
and merciful. He has plans to save everyone. What is salvation? It is enjoying eternal life. "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent"(Jn 17:3). Knowing Jesus Christ is eternal life. There are millions of people in this world who do not know Jesus as the true God. ‘To know’ God does not mean intellectual information about God. It means to have the experience of Jesus in one’s life. Can we be instrumental in bringing the Jesus-experience to those who are deprived of it or to those who positively deny it?

You can be like one of those called like St Paul! (Acts ch 9).

You can be like the woman of Samaria (Jn ch 4).

It can be a challenge for you.

Share your Jesus- experience with just one person a day.

The world will be very different soon.

God be with you!