Faces of Mercy

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Photo by: Felix Carroll

Brother Michael Gaitley, MIC, Stockbridge, Mass.

"One idea that changed my life and changed my attitude toward evangelization came from Pope John Paul II's encyclical, "The Gospel of Life," which deals with abortion, euthanasia, life issues. But part of that encyclical that is completely astonishing for me is that it deals with much more than those life issues. He gives his strategy for winning the huge cultural battle that we find ourselves in — the culture of life and the culture of death. He gives a key to victory in that battle. The key is a change in attitude. People are not objects for use, manipulation, and pleasure, and sin. If you want to build a culture of life, the first starting point is fostering in yourself and others an attitude of seeing in others an attitude of awe and wonder and amazement at their dignity and that this will lead to love. He urges that people develop a 'contemplative outlook.' This outlook has everything to do with evangelization, according to him. ... When we see the image of God in others and the image of Christ in others, we're already evangelizing. When evangelizing, wade past the things we'd be tempted to judge others by. Wade past personality traits that bug us, and find Christ in that person. When a person sees delight in your face in seeing Christ in them, it does something to them. They somehow discover Christ. It awakens something in them. This is something we all can do."

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