Would They Recognise Christ in Me?

Friends… At the recent Men of St Joseph meeting, I posed a question that has stayed with me: “If someone watched the way I lived for a week, would they recognise that I’m a follower of Jesus Christ?” It is a simple question, but perhaps not an easy one.

From the outset, I know I can do better; I am not pretending to be a perfect Catholic man, but I am trying to become more like Christ, one day at a time. But every Catholic man should have a clear foundation for answering that question. Our identity begins with Baptism. We belong to Christ, and we’re called to live as His disciples. We’re nourished by the Eucharist, strengthened through the Sacraments, formed by Sacred Scripture and guided by the teaching of the Church. We’re not simply people who admire Jesus for the man he was or agree with His teaching; it’s deeper than that: we’re called to follow Him and to become holy.

This means our Catholic faith can’t just live inside the walls of a church. We come to Mass, receive the Eucharist, pray, go to Confession and listen to God’s Word, but then we’re sent out into the world to go in peace, glorifying the Lord by our lives.**** Therefore, Mass itself reminds us of this movement: we gather, we encounter Christ, and we are sent to proclaim in everything we say and do.

So what would someone actually see if they watched us for a week? Would they see a man who treats his wife with love and respect, a father who makes time for his children, a friend they can trust, and a man who keeps his word when keeping it becomes difficult? Would they see something different in the way we behave when somebody cuts us up in traffic, when a colleague irritates us, when someone disagrees with us, or when we feel that we have been treated unfairly?

Perhaps the greatest test comes when things go wrong. Christ doesn’t promise us a life without difficulties. Instead, He calls us to live differently in those difficulties: to take a breath and think rather than respond with anger, to choose forgiveness rather than resentment, to choose generosity rather than selfishness, and to choose courage rather than fear.

That doesn’t mean hiding behind a smile when we are struggling. We’re not perfect men. We lose our tempers, get things wrong and sometimes hurt the people we love. There are times when prayer becomes difficult, when forgiveness seems almost impossible, or when we simply fall short of the man we know we should be.

But this is precisely where our Catholic faith becomes real. A Catholic man who falls doesn’t simply give up. He’s the man who gets back up, turns to Christ, seeks forgiveness, remembers the Sacrament of Reconciliation, returns to the Eucharist, asks for God’s grace, and puts things right and moves forward.

Scripture records little of St. Joseph, yet it shows us a man who listens to God and acts. It shows us what quiet faithfulness looks like. Scripture paints a picture of how he protects Mary and Jesus, provides for his family and remains faithful when the path ahead becomes muddy. His holiness is found not in public recognition, but in ordinary acts of obedience, responsibility and love.

Perhaps, then, the challenge is not simply, “Do I believe in Jesus?” It is “Can people see that I belong to Jesus?” Are they able to see it in the way I speak to those around me, the way I treat my family, the way I spend my time and money, the way I respond when I’m hurt, and the way I behave when only God is watching?

Our Catholic identity should be visible, not because we are trying to impress people, but because Christ is changing us from within. Our faith should shape our whole lives, our homes, our relationships, our work, our friendships, and our responsibilities.

So perhaps we should take that question home with us: If someone watched the way I lived for the next seven days, would they recognise that** I am a follower of Jesus Christ?**

And if the honest answer is, “Not always,” that’s a call, not a reason for despair. It’s an invitation: to prayer, to Confess, to the Eucharist and to begin again.

As Thomas à Kempis reminds us, the way to be recognised as a follower of Christ is not simply to know about Him, but to imitate Him, by allowing His life, His love and His humility to become visible in our own.

Deacon Neil Taylor