For the Sake of the Gospel #9: Faith and Evangelization
August30,2012
by Father Frank Matera
For the Sake of the Gospel #9
Faith and Evangelization
During the summer months, I have given a great deal of thought to what I would like to accomplish during the time that I am your pastor. What is most important? What is most necessary? While there are many different things that could be done, I have decided to focus my ministry this coming year around the theme of faith and evangelization.
My reason for choosing this theme is simple. During the past several decades, the Catholic Church has experienced a dramatic loss of membership. Some people have intentionally left the church, while others have quietly drifted away. This situation should be of concern to all of us. After all, these people once shared the Eucharist with us; they once shared our life in Christ. They once valued the words of Scripture and the sacraments in the same way that we do today.
But for reasons that are not always clear, they have decided to “drop out” of the church. The faith of their mothers and fathers is no longer as important to them as it was to their parents.
So what can we do? What must we do? Two things it seems to me. First and most importantly, those of us who have not “dropped out” must find ways to strengthen and deepen the faith to which we have remained faithful. Second, once we have renewed and strengthened our faith, then we must engage in the more challenging work of evangelization to which each one of us is called by our baptism. More specifically, we must reach out to our friends, our neighbors, our family members who have left the church and invite them to return to our Eucharistic community.
This will not be easy since most of us are not accustomed to asking others to return to church. Nor are we used to sharing our faith with others. Nor are we accustomed to reaching out and proclaiming the good news of the gospel that is ours. And yet, this is precisely what the risen Christ calls us to do when he says, “Go forth and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
During the weeks ahead, I will be devoting this column to the theme of faith and evangelization. I will write about (1) what it means to believe, (2) what we believe, (3) why we believe, (4) what it means to evangelize, (5) why we must proclaim the gospel to others, and (6) how we can re-evangelize those who have fallen away.
In addition to my columns, the Adult Education Committee is preparing a multi-faceted adult education program this year that will focus on the theme of faith and evangelization. This program will include (1) a series of book discussion groups on a variety of interesting books that can strengthen your faith, (2) a viewing of the award winning series of Father Robert Barron entitled “Catholicism,” (3) an evening with Monsignor Michael Motta on “Recovering Catholicism Revisited,” (4) Bible study with Deacon Art, and (5) a series of lectures I will give in October entitled, “Faith and Evangelization: A Study of Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans,” and then in December a shorter series on “The Birth of the Christ.”
You need not attend all of these events, but I urge to choose one of them to strengthen your faith so that you can share your faith with others. Our faith is too precious to take for granted. It needs to be nourished so that it can grow into an adult faith that is not ashamed to reach out to others, especially to those who have fallen away. Are we ready to strengthen our faith? Are we
willing to reach out and invite those who have left us to return home? If we are, we will make Saint Mary’s a more vibrant Christian community that will be a light to those around us—a light that will bring others the fullness of life, which is God’s own life.