The harvest is great

Fr Pat Collins The harvest is great

Pat Collins C.M. best selling author and speaker on spirituality, reflects on the importance of evangelisation in the life of the Church if it is to be vibrant.

The New Evangelization

It is my belief that a revolution is currently taking place in the Catholic Church, one that many clergy and lay people are not yet aware of. It is a striking fact that although the words evangelize and evangelization were not mentioned even once at Vat I, they were mentioned 49 times at Vat II. Ever since then, the Popes, especially Paul VI and John Paul II have repeatedly stressed the need for Catholics to engage in evangelization. In his apostolic exhortation, On Evangelization In The Modern World, Paul VI said that evangelization constitutes the Church's deepest identity and that the Church exists in order to evangelize. In more recent years John Paul II said in his encyclical letter Mission of the Redeemer par. 3, "I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church's energies to the new evangelization." It is worth noting that the Holy Father didn't say that the Church should devote some, or many of its resources to a new evangelization, but rather, ALL of them.

When many people hear the phrase "new evangelization," they say "I didn't even know there was an old evangelization, what is the new version about?" John Paul himself provided the answer. "The new evangelization," he explained, "begins with the clear and emphatic proclamation of the gospel." He used to go on to explain that the gospel is not about an idea or ideology, but about the person and saving work of Jesus Christ. Needless to say, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever" Heb. 13:8, but the culture in which he is proclaimed is changing all the time. As a result there is need for a new evangelization, one that is new in ardour, methods and forms of expression.

The Evangelizers

As canon 759 of the Code of Canon Law (1983) says, all Christians, in virtue of the sacraments of initiation, especially confi rmation, have a duty to evangelize. While all are called to this task whether clerical or lay, they need a vital qualifi cation to do so. As John Paul explained: "Only from a personal relationship with Jesus can effective evangelization develop." So all would-be evangelizers need to develop and prayerfully sustain a deep personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and Saviour, whether as a result of a slow process of growth or a sudden spiritual awakening. Ever since New Testament times, the Church has taught that although everyone is called to evangelize, they are not all called to do so in the same way. Some people, in virtue of their role in the Church, such as ordained ministry, or the gifts they have received from the Holy Spirit, such as preaching, teaching, and prophecy are equipped for different but complementary forms of evangelization.

Who is to be Evangelized?

In Lk 11:2 Jesus said: "The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest." All human beings who are not yet believers in Christ are part of this harvest. Speaking about such people Canon 748 makes this remarkable and even controversial assertion; "All are bound to seek the truth in the matters which concern God and his Church; when they have found it, then by divine law they are bound, and they have the right, to embrace and keep it." In more specific terms who needs to be evangelized?

1. Practicing Catholics who are sacramentalized but not fully evangelized. There are many people who, in spite of attending church on a regular basis, do not seem to have a personal relationship with Christ or a heartfelt conviction that their sins are truly forgiven, not because of any merit or good work of theirs, but solely as a result of the freely given grace of Christ in whom they must put all their trust (Cf. Gal 2:16).

2. Sad to say, in Britain and Ireland there are millions of inactive Catholics, who for one reason or another, have virtually stopped going to church or receiving the sacraments. For example, parish priests say that it is heartbreaking to fi nd that many children who make their fi rst communion or receive the sacrament of confi rmation, rarely if ever darken the door of the church afterwards.

3. Nowadays, there is a good deal of talk about the un-churched, i.e. people who are inactive for a long time and only turn up in church for deaths and marriages. For instance, it is thought that 80% of the population of G.B. falls into this category.

4. Finally there are unbelievers such as agnostics and atheists as well as members of other faiths. We are called to evangelize them also. Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, warned in Dominus Jesus, that Catholics should avoid a false form of political correctness which maintains in a relativistic way that all religions are equally valid ways to God. In spite of the fact that non-Christian religions can be means of grace (Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church par. 16), we need to be convinced that what Paul said in 1 Tim 2:5 is true: "There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ".

Motives for evangelizing

First and foremost there is the great commission of Jesus in Mk 16:15: "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation." Secondly, Jesus sent the disciples out to evangelize because he knew that it was only by receiving the gospel in faith that they would fulfi ll their God given potential by escaping the grip of sin and satan. It is vital that evangelizers be aware of the universality of wrongdoing. As Rm 3:23 reminds us: "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." There has been a terrible loss of the sense of sin in the modern world. Indeed many Christians have an unjustifiable belief that most people will be saved.

This notion comes out at funerals. Even if the person has led a publicly sinful life, the mourners say such things as, "Now that George or Rachel is in heaven…" While one would like to believe that this was true, there is good reason to think that it might not be so (Cf Gal 5:19- 21; 1 Pt 4:18). Jesus warned: "Enter the narrow gates, since the road to perdition is wide and spacious and many travel it. But it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life and only a few fi nd it" Mt 7:13-14. In other words, we evangelize as a matter of urgency because people's eternal happiness, that of relatives, friends, colleagues and acquaintances is at stake.

How shall we evangelize?

This is a huge subject. I will only make two points here. Firstly, I believe that every parish needs to have a purpose or mission statement which includes a reference to the new evangelization. I also believe that parish councils need to have an evangelization committee which intentionally targets the four different categories of people mentioned above. They can do this for example, by putting on such things as Life in the Spirit Seminars, the different types of Alpha course, or CaFE, RCIA or Cursillo programmes. In this regard I think they need to focus on young adults, many of whom are drifting away from the Church.

Secondly, all of us as individuals need to develop the courage and skill to do one-to-one evangelization both within and outside our family circle. It is a matter of seeing openings and knowing how to raise meaning of life topics such as "what do you think happens after death?". We need to know and share the core message of Christianity. One way of doing this in a non preachy way is to share our testimony. As I said at the beginning of this article, a revolution is underway in the Catholic Church. We are moving from an inward looking, maintenance model of Church to an outward looking, evangelistic one. As John Paul II said in par. 3 of Mission of the Redeemer, "No believer, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty of proclaiming Christ to all people." This is going to require a great deal of personal and institutional conversion. Inevitably, there will be all kinds of resistance because it will need a lot of change, effort and commitment. I have a feeling that this revolution will be mainly led by lay people who realize that it is in giving that we receive, that it is in sharing our faith with others that our own faith is deepened and strengthened.

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The New Evangelization It is my belief that a revolution is currently taking place in the Catholic Church, one that many clergy and lay people are not yet aware of. It is a striking fact that although the words evangelize and evangelization were not mentioned even once at Vat I, they were mentioned 49 times at Vat II. Ever since then, the Popes, especially Paul VI and John Paul II have repeatedly stressed the need for Catholics to engage in evangelization. In his apostolic exhortation, On Evangelization In The Modern World, Paul VI said that evangelization constitutes the Church's deepest identity and that the Church exists in order to evangelize. In more recent years John Paul II said in his encyclical letter Mission of the Redeemer par. 3, "I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church's energies to the new evangelization." It is worth noting that the Holy Father didn't say that the Church should devote some, or many of its resources to a new evangelization, but rather, ALL of them. When many people hear the phrase "new evangelization," they say "I didn't even know there was an old evangelization, what is the new version about?" John Paul himself provided the answer. "The new evangelization," he explained, "begins with the clear and emphatic proclamation of the gospel." He used to go on to explain that the gospel is not about an idea or ideology, but about the person and saving work of Jesus Christ. Needless to say, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever" Heb. 13:8, but the culture in which he is proclaimed is changing all the time. As a result there is need for a new evangelization, one that is new in ardour, methods and forms of expression. The Evangelizers As canon 759 of the Code of Canon Law (1983) says, all Christians, in virtue of the sacraments of initiation, especially confi rmation, have a duty to evangelize. While all are called to this task whether clerical or lay, they need a vital qualifi cation to do so. As John Paul explained: "Only from a personal relationship with Jesus can effective evangelization develop." So all would-be evangelizers need to develop and prayerfully sustain a deep personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and Saviour, whether as a result of a slow process of growth or a sudden spiritual awakening. Ever since New Testament times, the Church has taught that although everyone is called to evangelize, they are not all called to do so in the same way. Some people, in virtue of their role in the Church, such as ordained ministry, or the gifts they have received from the Holy Spirit, such as preaching, teaching, and prophecy are equipped for different but complementary forms of evangelization. Who is to be Evangelized? In Lk 11:2 Jesus said: "The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest." All human beings who are not yet believers in Christ are part of this harvest. Speaking about such people Canon 748 makes this remarkable and even controversial assertion; "All are bound to seek the truth in the matters which concern God and his Church; when they have found it, then by divine law they are bound, and they have the right, to embrace and keep it." In more specific terms who needs to be evangelized? 1. Practicing Catholics who are sacramentalized but not fully evangelized. There are many people who, in spite of attending church on a regular basis, do not seem to have a personal relationship with Christ or a heartfelt conviction that their sins are truly forgiven, not because of any merit or good work of theirs, but solely as a result of the freely given grace of Christ in whom they must put all their trust (Cf. Gal 2:16). 2. Sad to say, in Britain and Ireland there are millions of inactive Catholics, who for one reason or another, have virtually stopped going to church or receiving the sacraments. For example, parish priests say that it is heartbreaking to fi nd that many children who make their fi rst communion or receive the sacrament of confi rmation, rarely if ever darken the door of the church afterwards. 3. Nowadays, there is a good deal of talk about the un-churched, i.e. people who are inactive for a long time and only turn up in church for deaths and marriages. For instance, it is thought that 80% of the population of G.B. falls into this category. 4. Finally there are unbelievers such as agnostics and atheists as well as members of other faiths. We are called to evangelize them also. Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, warned in Dominus Jesus, that Catholics should avoid a false form of political correctness which maintains in a relativistic way that all religions are equally valid ways to God. In spite of the fact that non-Christian religions can be means of grace (Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church par. 16), we need to be convinced that what Paul said in 1 Tim 2:5 is true: "There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ". Motives for evangelizing First and foremost there is the great commission of Jesus in Mk 16:15: "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation." Secondly, Jesus sent the disciples out to evangelize because he knew that it was only by receiving the gospel in faith that they would fulfi ll their God given potential by escaping the grip of sin and satan. It is vital that evangelizers be aware of the universality of wrongdoing. As Rm 3:23 reminds us: "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." There has been a terrible loss of the sense of sin in the modern world. Indeed many Christians have an unjustifiable belief that most people will be saved. This notion comes out at funerals. Even if the person has led a publicly sinful life, the mourners say such things as, "Now that George or Rachel is in heaven…" While one would like to believe that this was true, there is good reason to think that it might not be so (Cf Gal 5:19- 21; 1 Pt 4:18). Jesus warned: "Enter the narrow gates, since the road to perdition is wide and spacious and many travel it. But it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life and only a few fi nd it" Mt 7:13-14. In other words, we evangelize as a matter of urgency because people's eternal happiness, that of relatives, friends, colleagues and acquaintances is at stake. How shall we evangelize? This is a huge subject. I will only make two points here. Firstly, I believe that every parish needs to have a purpose or mission statement which includes a reference to the new evangelization. I also believe that parish councils need to have an evangelization committee which intentionally targets the four different categories of people mentioned above. They can do this for example, by putting on such things as Life in the Spirit Seminars, the different types of Alpha course, or CaFE, RCIA or Cursillo programmes. In this regard I think they need to focus on young adults, many of whom are drifting away from the Church. Secondly, all of us as individuals need to develop the courage and skill to do one-to-one evangelization both within and outside our family circle. It is a matter of seeing openings and knowing how to raise meaning of life topics such as "what do you think happens after death?". We need to know and share the core message of Christianity. One way of doing this in a non preachy way is to share our testimony. As I said at the beginning of this article, a revolution is underway in the Catholic Church. We are moving from an inward looking, maintenance model of Church to an outward looking, evangelistic one. As John Paul II said in par. 3 of Mission of the Redeemer, "No believer, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty of proclaiming Christ to all people." This is going to require a great deal of personal and institutional conversion. Inevitably, there will be all kinds of resistance because it will need a lot of change, effort and commitment. I have a feeling that this revolution will be mainly led by lay people who realize that it is in giving that we receive, that it is in sharing our faith with others that our own faith is deepened and strengthened. << Top Home >>