Musings of a Catholic Convert

Some of you asked if I would post my talking points from today's Catechist Training Day at Incarnation.  I'm putting them up here, just keep in mind that the written points vary a little from the talk you heard.  

The Year of St. Paul and Incarnation Catechists

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict, has declared June 2008 to June 2009 to be the year of St. Paul, coinciding with the 2000^th anniversary of St. Paul’s birth.   This year is a celebrating of St. Paul and his contributions to the Church; but, more than that, this is also a special time of Evangelization.  That is why I am here speaking to you this morning.

What comes to mind when you think of the word Evangelization?            

It is not surprising that most of us do not first consider ourselves, but that is exactly what you should be thinking.  The Church’s primary vocation is Evangelization, the spreading of the Gospel or “good news” of Jesus Christ.  In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus gives instruction to the Apostles to go and make disciples, but it is not only the Apostles/Bishops, who have this responsibility.  No, it is the responsibility of EVERYONE in the body of Christ to share the Gospel.  Since I don't know EVERYONE in the body of Christ, I'm encouraging EVERYONE in this room to evangelize.

How many of you have heard of the term “the new evangelization”?

When we speak of evangelism, we are not speaking of anything new.  There is nothing new about the Gospel.  It never changes.  Yet, at the same time, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is always relevant, always purposeful, always effective.  Sometimes the means of sharing the gospel sometimes change.  The principles of evangelism, however, NEVER change.

Where does evangelization begin?  With you.  We have a moral obligation to know Christ and to know the Faith he has given us.  It will not start with the people who never come to Mass, with the people who drop their kids off at PRE and never step foot in the Church otherwise.  Father can't do it all.  The Bishop can't do it all.  We HAVE TO share in this work.  The popes have stressed this, and the lives of the saints show us that it is possible for us to carry out the Great Commission alongside our shepherds.  But how do we do it?

Part of evangelization is how we live our lives.  We have to have the gospel in us.  We must be in communion with God and with each other.  Our faith cannot be something we put on the shelf when we get home from Mass.  It must be the WHO WE ARE.  That is what it means to have Christ in us.  He IS OUR LIFE.  Not in a symbolic way, not as a metaphor, but ontologically truly dwelling within us and living through us.  The primary way we renew the resurrection life of Jesus within us is through the EUCHARIST.  Friends, if every Catholic on the parish roll understood this, truly understood it, we would not have a problem with mass attendance in the summer.  If people understood what it was they were receiving each Mass, we wouldn’t see people in a hurry to leave Church.  We wouldn’t see disrespectful actions during Mass.  But listen, that kind of change and understanding will only come about when WE AS LAY LEADERS, AND YES CATECHISTS ARE LAY LEADERS, ARE CONSISTANTLY LIVING THE FAITH AND KNOWING, NO LOVING, WHAT WE HAVE.  They’re going to have to get it from us.  They will NEVER come up with this on their own.

Let me share something with you from my own life.  Most of you know my background, and you know that I was a Southern Baptist pastor for several years before I became Catholic.  Most people make the assumption that I resigned from my pastorate in order to join the Catholic Church.  In fact, to this very day, the people at my last congregation have been led to believe this is the case.  But it’s not true, and I even stood before them and explained why I was leaving.  You wanna know why I resigned?  It’s because I was not living the faith I was proclaiming as a teacher and leader of that congregation.  

You see, I could not stand in that position as a teacher, if I was not also living what I taught.  You cannot give someone something you don’t have.  Wait!  Before you decide to call the DRE and resign your post, let me tell you something I’ve learned.  YOU have something to give, and maybe you don’t realize it.  As a PRE teacher you have received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Reconciliation, and the Eucharist.  You may have also received the Annointing of the Sick or the Sacrament of Matrimony.   Right off the bat, you have an experience with God that these children and teens might not yet have (depending on their circumstances of course).  What can you do with these great gifts?  How can you impart some share of this life within you?  Look at St. Paul.

Look at his statement in 2 Corinthians 4:1-18.  Here, we see not only the essence of what it means to be an evangelist, but also what it means to be part of the body of Christ.  When Paul was called by God and was baptized, he ceased being Saul of Tarsus and became Paul.  Old friends became enemies.  Saul, for all practical purposes, was dead.  The new man, Paul, gave himself over and over again to suffering, ridicule, and affliction for the sake of the Gospel.  He rejected sin in order to live a life worthy of He who dwells within him.  Total self-donation.  That is the key.  That is the reality we see in the Trinity, that total self giving love.  We, being made children of God are called into that self same reality. 

We must have a spirit of self-donation, giving our time, our talent, and yes material resources in order to build up others for the sake of the Gospel.  It goes against everything we see on TV and read in the paper.  Put others first.  Show the love of God working IN US.  Share what God is doing IN US.  Give HIM to other people.  We can do that in our service, in our teaching, in our parenting, in our marriages, in the workplace, in the pew, at WalMart, and on vacation.  But it MUST MUST MUST be a conscious effort.  You’ll never do it automatically.  You can’t coast.  Remember my story.  But as intentional disciples, we can share the portion we have been given with other people.

What will happen when we do that?  We’ll stick out like sore thumbs for one thing, but boy will we make a difference.  If we can share that hope that is in us in a spirit of humility and love, look out!  Even a few words of personal testimony speaks volumes.  And we point people to Jesus.  It’s like a blind beggar who has found a source of life-giving bread, who then goes to the other blind to help them.  It is not about OWNING the truth, but it is about knowing the truth, sharing the truth, living the truth.  If we can do that in our lives, this group of men and women can at the end of our lives echo the words of St. Paul when he spoke to a young Bishop named Timothy near the end of his earthly life, 2 Timothy 4:7-8.  The road ahead is hard, but I’m learning day by day how worthwhile this struggle can be, and I’m learning how liberating it is to let go of the things that I thought I needed to be happy and finding true happiness in Jesus.

God grant us the courage to give him ALL of US and to give ourselves away for the sake of the Gospel, especially in this year of St. Paul.