It is historical fact that Jesus was crucified. That he rose from the dead is based on the testimony of certain persons but there is no dramatic account of the dead and crucified Jesus stirring back to life. How did this death and seeming ignominious end begin a movement that continues to grow and change the way people of vastly different persuasions live?

It began with the example set by Jesus who proclaimed ‘Let your light shine before all’, more than a thousand years before the invention of the printing press. Jesus was sure that the singular example of his life was going to change the world. His example was not about words that would convince, inspire, motivate but rather about doing good in a visible way, ‘so that others, seeing your good works, may glorify your father in heaven’.

How could the message of his life-example change people in the Philippines, Nigeria, China, Korea, the US after 2000 years when there is not even a common language that unites all these people? Helder Camara is a Brazilian Bishop who instructs his catechists, ‘Sisters and brothers, watch how you live. Your lives may be the only gospel your neighbors will ever read.’

For the gospel of Jesus to spread, we are all called to witness every moment of our brief lives. To live in a way that our lives would not make sense if God did not exist.