One thing that strikes and fascinates visitors to Nigeria is the phenomenon of street trading. Everywhere in the cities you see men, women and children traders who carry their goods in their hands or on the head trying to sell them to passers-by and motorists. You could buy anything from the window of your car: iced water, soda, clothes and electronic gadgets. One thing we have learnt from street trading is that success is often determined not by the quality of the goods but by the ability of the traders to advertise and get themselves noticed. No matter how precious the goods one has to sell, if you keep your mouth shut and do not advertise it to prospective customers, no one will notice and no one will buy. Something similar happens in the business of evangelisation. No matter how precious and true our faith is, if we do not tell others about it, they will not know about it and they will not embrace it. In today’s second reading from the First Letter of Peter we have a wonderful teaching on how to share our faith with others.

“But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord” (1 Peter 3:15a). This instruction is directed to those who are not “zealous for what is right” for fear of being harmed. How many times do we fail to speak up for what we believe to be right and true for fear of being ridiculed or called names by others? Rather than fear people, we are urged to fear and sanctify Christ who dwells in our hearts as the supreme Lord. In other words, we are asked to abandon our timidity and follow the example of Peter and the apostles who said to those who wanted to silence them: “We must obey God rather than human authorities” (Acts 5:29). Fulton J. Sheen once said that we are God’s chosen people but often we behave like God’s frozen people.

“Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you” (verse 15b). How do people make this demand? People make this demand on believers on a daily basis, both explicitly and implicitly. We all know when someone explicitly asks us why we hold certain beliefs and hopes. But do we recognise when they make the same demand in implicit and indirect ways? At times when people turn hostile and contradict you, insult you or even simply ignore you when you try to take a faith stand, what they are saying in not so many words is: “Why should I believe you? Why should I believe that going to church is not a waste of time? Why should I pray to God rather than solve the problem in my own way?” Are we prepared to answer the spoken and unspoken questions of people today, especially those of the younger generation, who are growing up in an increasingly confused world?

But how can we be ready to defend the truth of our faith, you may ask? The simple answer is: Be grounded in the faith yourself and then you can share it with others. Nemo dat quod non habet: You can’t give what you don’t have. We must make effort to know our faith more by knowing the basic documents of our religion, the Bible, the teachings of the church, the Catechism. It was St Jerome who said: “Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.”

“Yet do it with gentleness and reverence” (verse 16a). Virtue stands in the middle. What we see mostly among believers today is bashful timidity on the one hand and ill-mannered incivility on the other. A drop of honey attracts more flies than a jar of vinegar.

“Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame” (verse 16b). Action still speaks louder than words. We can conclude with the inspired words of St Francis of Assisi to his friars: Preach the Gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.