When
people ask Michael St. Jacques, a Franciscan brother, what he’s wearing, he
says, “It’s called a habit.” He wears the distinctive brown robe for a definite
reason. St. Jacques told Hemispheres magazine, “We have the choice to
wear it, and a lot of us make a real effort to because it acts as a magnet.
People tell me things they’ve never told anyone. Complete strangers will
confess something they did 30 years ago and ask if God can forgive them.” You
might say that Michael is clothed in “approachability.”
Throughout
the Gospels, we find that all types of people approached Jesus wherever He
went. They came to be taught, helped, healed, accepted, and forgiven. When some
criticized Jesus for associating with tax collectors and sinners, people they
considered undesirable, Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but
sinners, to repentance” (Mark 2:17).
Do people
see us as aloof or accessible? When we become so focused on our own plans that
we have no time for others, we are not clothed with the spirit of Christ.
When the
Savior lives through us, His open arms invite people to open their hearts and
unburden their souls.
Being available for the needs of others honors God. (RBC)
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