When I was a young priest, many years ago, I led a youth group. One of the activities was to stage a mock trial. We would imagine that we were in the times of the Roman empire and the Christians were being persecuted. The point of the trial was to see if there was enough evidence to convict the defendent of being a Christian. The judge, jury, defence and prosecuting attorneys would present the trial. What proved interesting was how the trials would unfold. They would not try to convince the jury that the defendent was a Christain by looking at their baptism, by testing their knowledge of the catechsim, by seeing if they attended Mass on Sunday, by examining their prayer life. Instead the prosecutor would show the defendent was kind, offered forgiveness, was generous with the poor, showed compassion toward those who were hurting. If they acted in this way they demonstrated their faith. This line was, in fact, exactly how St. John says we should evaluate our own life as Christians. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. If you show love you are Christian, all else is talk.
