Evangelization

I really feel we are missing an opportunity here in the Church.  Or maybe put a better way, we may not be reading the signs of the time right.  

 

With all the news recently inside and outside the Church;  the Paris bombings, the Holy Father's visit here and to Africa, the shooting at Planned Parenthood, and the upcoming beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, there seems to be a bending over backwards in the Church to talk about mercy, forgiveness, and understanding, and yes, that is good and necessary.

However, at the same time, there needs to be something else in addition to all that.  We need evangelization!  Evangelization means to "preach the Gospel".   The Gospel is the Good News of Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, and He has saved us from our sins, and in Him, we can live triumphantly in this life, and forever with Him in the next.   Jesus founded a Church as the means and the goal of that divine life that can live within us thanks to Him.  There is no hope for individuals, nor for humanity as a whole, without Christ and His Church. 

Why are we not looking at the world as it is, and see that it is crying out for an authentic religion and authentic humanity?   Jesus is the perfect Man; fully God, and fully human, without sin.   It is crying out for a faith that is credible.  Jesus is the Logos, the Eternal Word of God.   It is crying out for something that can unite and give hope to humanity.  Jesus is Savior.   It is crying out for peace.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  It is crying out for life, truth, and love.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  It is crying out for a leadership.   Jesus is the King of Kings.

Yes, this is the time to be talking about Jesus and the one Church He founded.  We need to respect people of all faiths, and no faith, but we must proclaim louder than ever that only in Jesus Christ will anyone's life find fulfillment.   There is no hope for any of us, nor for the entire human race, other than in Jesus Christ.

 

We need to remember this, I think, above all about Jesus.  He professed to be God.  ("The Father and I are one."  (John 10:30)  No other founder, or leader of any other world religion, professed to be God.  This is critical, and makes Christianity unique among all religions. 

No, we cannot force anyone to convert.  No, we must allow freedom of religion, something Christians have had to fight for a lot recently in our country, and it would be wrong for us to deny that right to any follower of any other religion.  We cannot follow the examples from other countries where people are being forced to convert to Islam.

However, there is only one religion that can give hope to the human race, and that is Christianity lived in its fullness without error in the Catholic Church.   We need to live it, and talk about it, more than ever now.  It is time now to show Her glory, both by seeking to understand Her if we do not, and then explaining Her teachings, and living them in our own lives, so that each of us reflect the splendor of Christ and His Church, and therefore, make Him and Her attractive for the world to see, a world that desperately needs to see once again the face of the authentically human, the authentically holy, and the authentically sacred.

 

Saint Joseph, Light of Patriarchs and Diligent Protector of Christ, be our light in this time of darkness and help lead us to the Light of the world, Jesus.