Walking in his shoes

We talk about spreading the Gospel. We talk about our being disciples. But have you ever given any thought to doing something like this:

 Fabio Mateus, a 38-year-old married father of twin boys, made an extraordinary effort to see the pope. Saturday night he and millions of others slept on the beach following the vigil and watched the pink hue of dawn breaking on the Atlantic horizon. It was the end of a long journey. On March 15, Mateus packed a rucksack with a spare pair of sneakers, a raincoat, a hammock and $20 in his pocket, and started walking.

Mateus, who lives in Trairi, a city in northeast Brazil’s Ceara state, trekked 1,850 miles to Rio to see the pope. Pilgrimages are a Brazilian tradition, built on a belief that to deepen religious experience a person must make sacrifices and suffer a degree of pain. About 8 million pilgrims visit Sao Paulo’s Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida each year.

Mateus, who quit his job as an office administrator for a building company, said he preached the gospel message to everyone he met.

I'm not suggesting we all do this. I am suggesting that we preach the gospel message to everyone we meet. Sometimes we use words. Sometime we us our lives. It's a simple philosophy. Till we walk 1,850 miles to see Jesus, let's at least walk in his shoes.