The Witness of the Hidden Life

But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. // Mark 16:20 (From the Gospel for the Solemnity of the Ascension)

It was a week of sickness. First my three-year-old, who, blessedly, let us know she was feeling queasy before the puke came fast and furious. My husband was next, groaning on the bathroom floor two days later. And then my six-year-old, who counted the number of times she needed the throw-up bucket, as if she were in a competition for “most sick” in the house.

And I was left healthy, alone to manage it all. Now I had to wash the sheets and sanitize the surfaces and cook the soup and rub the backs and rush to three different pharmacies.

It can seem, at times, that we do these things—the hard, weary, sometimes even gross work of life—all on our own. But we are not alone. In fact, the Lord is working with us. And what may seem like simple housework and basic parenting is actually a witness to the tender love of the Lord and an in-home proclamation of the Gospel.

When Jesus ascended into Heaven (celebrated either today or this Sunday, depending on your diocese) and gave the command to the disciples to go and preach the Gospel to every creature (see Mark 16:16), it was a command to us today too. Sometimes we are called to witness in the explicit “evangelistic” moments, but other times it’s a witness to His love and mercy and care in the quiet moments at home, doing the unseen hard things. The Lord works with us, and in us, in the hidden moments when we get to be the hands and feet of Jesus where only we can be. 

A quotation often attributed to and lived out by Servant of God Dorothy Day states, ”Everyone wants a revolution, but no one wants to do the dishes.” It reminds us that we can go forth and preach everywhere—including right here, where we are—and the Lord will work with us.

Lord, help us to see how You work with us, and through us, to preach your Gospel, right where we find ourselves on this day, in this moment, however small it may seem to be.