Letting actions speak louder than words

The Acts of the Apostles is quickly becoming my favourite book of the Bible. Yes, we have the Gospels, in which Christ shows and tells us how to live. And we also have the Letter of James, which is very practical in telling us how to live our Christian lives on a daily basis. But if you want to see what God can do to a person who opens up their lives to Him, look no further than the Acts of the Apostles. They receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and they are off to the races, converting thousands to the love and truth of Christ.

But there is an interesting part of the book where St. Paul and his companions “went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6). Here are the Apostles, on fire with the Spirit, ready to sacrifice their lives, and the Spirit says, “Don’t.”

The Holy Spirit telling someone to not spread the Gospel might seem odd. But I take it a step further and imagine the Spirit not only telling Paul “don’t,” but also telling him “not yet.” Jesus’ last command to His Apostles was to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). But the truth is that sometimes people are simply not ready to hear the full power of the Gospel. Whether it is because they are too stubborn, jaded or have hardened hearts from years of pain and struggle, sometimes people are not ready to be exposed to it. And in fact, sometimes openly telling someone a key point about the Catholic faith could push him or her further away from God.

The Holy Spirit was telling Paul to spread the faith by simply living it, and perhaps that’s what the Holy Spirit is telling all of us to do today. Sometimes, instead of using words, we need to use actions. As St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”

Really living out the Gospel and showing the joy and peace that only Christ can give is what will eventually soften people’s hearts, by permission of the Holy Spirit. I can see how it might have been frustrating for St. Paul. I have definitely felt frustration in the same circumstances. But if we have patience, we will see the Spirit move in people, and then we will be able to understand why the Spirit was telling us to hold back — because He was trying to soften a heart or ease a pain; trying to cultivate the heart of a person so that when the word is spoken, the seeds of the Spirit will fall on fertile ground.

We should remember that we too were at one time also “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to (hear) the word.” If frustration with these situations ever arises, we should recall the words of St. Augustine: “Let us not forget what we once were, and then we will not lose hope for those who are now what we used to be.”

The Holy Spirit has a plan for us all. He never loses hope in us, and so we too should have hope in each other, no matter what the Holy Spirit tells us to do.

(Keong, 21, is an English literature major at the University of British Columbia.)