EVANGELIZATION
Evangelization, as discussed here, includes the act of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with those outside of our doors, the un-churched and the fallen away, and does not limit itself to the process of bringing those already within our doors to a deeper realization of their faith. As such, it explicitly calls for adding to our numbers. Acts 2:47. We must not only be a receptionist church, welcoming those who come to us, but become an inviting church, reaching out to those beyond our doors. At a time in our diocese when many of our parishes are already bursting at the seams and there is an apparent dearth in leadership to care for our present numbers (i.e. the so-called priest shortage), it does not seem reasonable to talk about reaching out and compelling even more to come in. But in this we have no choice. We are commanded by Jesus Christ to do so. “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” Mathew 28:19-20. “Having been born consequently out of being sent, the Church in her turn is sent by Jesus. The Church remains in the world when the Lord of glory returns to the Father. She remains as a sign of a new presence of Jesus, of his departure and of his permanent presence. She prolongs and continues him. And it is above all his mission and his condition of being an evangelizer that she is called upon to continue.” Pope Paul VI Evangelii Nuntiandi.
It is by faith that we reach out beyond our own, despite the absurdity of limited resources and personnel. For in telling us to go, Jesus prefaces his command with the statement that all authority has been given to Him, both in heaven and on earth. By this he banishes our fears and hesitations and states that he will command all power and provision to be released to us as we go forth. We need not calculate, we not ponder the how, we must simply obey and believe. We will not see God’s provision before we go, only in the going. Evangelization is the heart of God. If we place ourselves in God’s heart then we will see God act. If we are concerned about a lack of vocations, then we need only go with God to the margins and we will see God himself raise up the shepherds to care for his sheep. In fact, many of those leaders will be found from among those who have yet to be reached.
It is in love that we reach out. Even as the Father sent the Son because of his love for the world, desiring that not one should perish, but that all might have eternal life, John 3:16, so too we must reach out to worlds foreign to our own, in order that they might know the love of God, be reconciled to Him and discover the unity and love, that place where no barrier and division exist, in Christ as revealed in the Church. Galatians 3:26-29. The Church discovers its salvation by revealing the image of God. The Church reveals the image of God through its inclusivity. Thus through evangelization the Church itself is evangelized.
It is in hope that we reach out. If we are to have a Church in the future that is truly reflective of all the faces of God, every race and all cultures, where the leadership and ministers of this Church are representative of all peoples, then we must bring them into the Church today. Through evangelization today we are building the inclusive Church of tomorrow. We speak here directly of the historic and present lack of inclusion of African Americans in the Church as well as the loss of many Hispanics from our tradition to other denominations or sadly to no faith community at all. We are reminded by Canon Law that we have pastoral responsibility for the souls of all those with the parish boundaries, registered or unregistered, Catholic or Protestant, believer or unbeliever, black, brown, yellow or white.
Thus the scriptures and the teaching of the church give a call for every parish to develop an evangelization plan. This plan should be informed by the demographics of the community and must be intentional in its efforts to reach every segment. A census of those Catholics and the un-churched actually living in the geographic boundaries would in most cases reveal a great many minorities who do not come across our doorsteps. Lay teams doing the census would have an opportunity to learn about the actual make-up of the parish as well as reveal why minorities do not participate in parishes. This planning must be proceeded and be accompanied with prayer for a Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit, for it is only by the Spirit that our evangelization will find fruit. Acts 1:8. This evangelization begins the task and is the cornerstone of dismantling racism in the Church.
