I actually went to google on the definition of 'evangelization' itself.
And it says:
Evangelization means bringing the Good News of Jesus into every human situation and seeking to convert individuals and society by the divine power of the GospelI used to think that to evangelize is something not done by the laity, but only by the religious priests, brothers and nuns. It's like something that needs to have authority to perform on other people. St Francis of Assisi once quoted - 'Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words'. This further confirmed for me then that it wasnt something common people like us could do, rather you have to be trained for it officially.
itself.
(This is the definition for Evangelization used by the Church from the writings of Pope Paul VI - On Evangelization in the Modern World [Evangelii
Nuntiandi], no. 18, 1975.)
Not only that, evangelization was a term that I associated more with the non-Catholics, put more simply - the Protestants. Its always seems that its their innate nature to go out into the streets handing out flyers and telling strangers how good God is. And I always found these people intimidating.
Apparently I was wrong, evangelization does not only consists of preaching the word of God to other people. but it also involves living the Christian faith and doing good to others in your own way. As how Pope Paul IV puts it. " Evangelization is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize."
As I googled more into this topic, I came across a phrase ' New Evangelization', and it was coined by Pope John Paul II, that in this new age and century, evangelization is no longer just a task performed by the religious brothers and sisters, but also by the congregation.
In The Mission of the Redeemer, he wrote [Redemptoris Missio], “the
moment has come to commit all of the Church’s energies to a new
evangelization and to the mission ad gentes. No believer in Christ, no
institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all
peoples.”
And this reminds me of a Peanuts cartoon/comic strip I saw from one catholic blog that I stumbled onto cos i was googling about comic strips for a cathechism class about family.
This defensiveness can be seen in many of us - Catholics today, especially when we meet someone who knows more about our own religion, or is more out-spoken about Christianity/Catholicism. We think we know everything, yet we get stumped at questions/views posed to us. But after all that, it just goes to show that we take our religion for granted.
But now, the question is, have we shown that we are good Christians through our actions and the words that we say. Or are we only Christians on Sundays? That was the question posed to us during the session today, and that got me thinking. We take for granted that there is always someone who will start the ball rolling, but the irony is.. everyone is waiting for that someone to take the first step. So then, what exactly is the thing that holds us back from being Christians to others, from evangelizing to others about Christ's love for us? What are we waiting for anyway?
What is your take on this? Pls do comment. (:
Love, angele
