EVANGELIZATION

Week 9

Name: GUIBAO, KIMBERLY S. Date:11- 05- 20

Section: ST. AUGUSTINE

Objectives:
At the end of the reading activity, the learner must have;
 distinguished that the Gospel message transforms the world and continues to be
inculturated in different times and places;
 realized that the Church’s heartbeat is evangelization and the deepest meaning of what it
means to be church; and
 Identified love, communion, and justice as the heart of the Gospel message.

Overview:
By virtue of the dignity of baptism, every Christian is called to spread (to evangelize) the
Good News, the message and teaching of Jesus Christ, throughout the world. The Gospel message is
always expressed through the belief and value system of a particular culture (inculturation).
Evangelization is about spreading the kingdom of God in our lives as Jesus did. It occurs in a
specific time and place. Inculturation, as an element of evangelization, dialogues with a culture and
the culture dialogues with the faith expressions in order to bring about a deeper awareness of the
Spirit’s movement working in La Iglesia Mestiza.
“People listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if people do listen to teachers, it
is because they are witnesses” (Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41).

Topic Lessons
I. Jesus and evangelization
 Jesus is the evangelizer and his mission is to proclaim the Kingdom of God (EN, 6-16).
 God becoming human in Jesus was the supreme act of inculturation, it is the mystery
of the Incarnation.
II. What is evangelization? What is inculturation? (EN, 17-24).
 The definition given in the Catholic Catechism for inculturation: Adapting the
cultural elements of a people to Christian initiation (CCC, 854). Evangelization is the
transformation of humanity from within through the Gospel. It begins with the
person and always includes the relationship between persons and with God.
The church “seeks to convert, solely through the divine power of the
message she proclaims, both the personal and collective consciences of people, the
activities in which they engage, and the lives and concrete milieu which are theirs”
(EN 18).
Through the Word of God the Church seeks to penetrate all dimensions of
personal and cultural life. The purpose of evangelization is much more than
promoting the outward observances of religion. Evangelization is the process of
transforming all values, models and modes of life that are in contrast to the message
of the Gospel. In this fullest sense, we, the people of God, are always in need of our
own deeper evangelization and that of our society.
III. The content of evangelization is the message of love and liberation; salvation=liberation
(EN, 25-39).
  The core message of evangelization is the message that “God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die but may have
eternal life. God did not send the son to condemn the world, but that the world may
be saved through him” (Jn 3:16-17).
God’s love is visible through Jesus and given to us through the Holy Spirit. By
opening ourselves to this love we begin the process of liberation as God’s beloved
sons and daughters. We are freed FROM our sins and freed FOR transformation and
community, or communion with each other.
There are two ways this message is commonly misunderstood and distorted:
The first is to think and behave as if we can earn salvation by our virtue and
religious acts. Salvation is God’s pure gift of love and liberation, we can only accept
it and cooperate with it (gratia cooperans), and we can never earn it, no matter how
good we are. In his lifetime it was mostly the good people who rejected Jesus and
saw him as a threat to their own ways of earning salvation and thus “controlling”
God.
The second misunderstanding is to focus on seeking salvation mainly so that
I will not go to hell. Such a private and limited focus is a case of arrested spiritual
development. Freedom from our sins though the acceptance of God’s pardon and
love for us is only the first step in our salvation. Our liberation means that we are
freed to cooperate with God’s transformation becoming other Christ’s in and
through our communion with our sisters and brothers to carry on the mission of
Jesus. When we allow God to change us, we will discover the meaning of “living life
to the full” (Jn. 10.10).
IV. Methods for evangelizing (EN 40-48)
 “…the first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life,
given over to God in a communion that nothing should destroy and at the same time
given to one's neighbor with limitless zeal” (EN 40).
The Gospel is credible when the messenger’s life is itself a witness to the
love and power of God. We cannot preach the Good News if we are the “bad news.”
Evangelii Nuntiandi emphasizes the need for preaching, catechesis, and the
catechumenate.
This encyclical states that we would be guilty before the Lord if we did not
use the new media as ways to proclaim the Gospel (EN 45). As the people of God we
are charged with using all available means to spread the Word of God.
V. Who do we evangelize? (EN, 49-58).
 The mission to evangelize is first of all to those who have never heard the good news
of Jesus Christ; this mandate includes children. Respect is due to those of other faith
traditions and the recognition that God has also been revealed to them. Pastoral
sensitivity must be used in such places. Often the approach is one of sharing how
God has been revealed to Christians in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, and
learning how God has been active in other traditions. In this way the evangelizer
becomes evangelized by others.
 Christians today are challenged to re-evangelize societies where there is growing
disbelief in God and a reliance on human knowledge and effort alone. These cultures
that have lost the light of faith experience the loss of communion that results from
“… a consumer society, the pursuit of pleasure set up as the supreme value, a desire
for power and domination, and discrimination of every kind…” (EN 55).
The number of peoples who have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ
is much fewer than at Pentecost, the beginning of our mission. Yet the world’s need
for the saving power of the Gospel has never been greater. The Christian mission to
evangelize is urgent.
 VI. Church as missionary (EN, 59-73). The mission of Jesus has a church, not that the church
has a mission.
 The mission of Jesus is presented in Lk. 4.18-19: to bring good news to the poor. The
Church is called to collaborate in the mission of Jesus and to be guided by the Spirit.
Many misinterpret the mission as the mission of the Church as though the
institutional church must promote itself. Another way to say this is to see that the
center of the mission is Christ, not the Church. The Church furthers the mission of
Christ when it lives the Gospel. Today we hear much about apologetics. Taken to an
extreme on the defensive posture, apologetics can distort the mission of Christ as
though it were the “property” of the Church. The Church is an instrument, not an
end in itself.
VII. The Holy Spirit animates and is the principal agent of evangelization (EN, 75).
 A lively sacramental life and the practice of prayer are needed to discern how the
Spirit would have us manifest and speak the Gospel. Our efforts will be fruitless if we
are not in daily communion with our God.

Questions for Discussions:

1. Who has been instrumental in your life in forming your faith in Jesus? How was this done?
In life, there would be someone who will be an instrument in forming our faith in Jesus.
There will be someone who is willing to lift us from our downfall or darkness in life in order
for us to see the light that we are longing to look for, even if we kept on denying in
ourselves that we do not need the help of others to bring us to enlighten.
In my life, the one who serve as the instrument in forming my faith in Jesus was a priest
who heard of all my confessions to my mistakes. When I did not know what to do anymore, I
seek his help in order for me to lessen the burden that I have felt inside. Before, I thought
that I do not need someone who can help me whenever I experience darkness in my life.
Before, I thought that I can help myself alone because the only person who can help me, is
myself. I tried to be strong on my own, to the point I was blinded that I can do this by my
own, that is why I never ask somebody’s help to lift me up from stumble.
However, as soon that we arrived at the place that we were going to Recollection, at
that time, I felt so empty. Like, I did not know where my mind was at that time. It was like I
was walking through the air because I felt so empty deep inside. I tried to smile at people
who passed me by, because I did not want them to notice what I actually felt at that time,
because, as I have stated, I did not want somebody’s help for me. I did not want someone’s
hand, patting on my shoulder to lift me up at that time, because I believed that I can do it by
myself.
The moment that we were going to confess now in our mistakes, I felt lighted within. I
did not know why am I felt that, it is like there is someone, even if I did not see that person
visibly, who told me that ‘everything’s going to be alright, my dear’. As I have faced the
priest, was the moment that changed my life back then.
He told me things that really helped me enlightened my mind and heart at that time. He
brought to me the Good News that helped me to lift up. He told me about Jesus, who he
was and what were his doings. He told me these things in order to enlighten my heart that
was carrying burden within. One thing that I could never forget what he told me, was this
“Jesus never leaves you. Even if people will leave at your side, but to Him, He is there. He
was there waiting for you to acknowledge Him. He is there every time that you have felt that
you did not need somebody’s help, but still He is there to help you anytime. Jesus loves you –
us. Even if we did mistakes, but He is there widely spreading His arms to embrace us, to
welcomes us again the moment that we take the ways to be with Him, the moment that we
grow again our faith and believe again.” That was the time, I felt that my faith was slowly
forming to Jesus. Until, today my faith is growing stronger to Him. I do believe that He is
there for me always and that I realize that I need somebody’s help to help me enlighten my
mind. We all need each other’s hand to lift us from the downfall.
2. How can social media (Internet tools like Facebook, etc.) be used as a means for
evangelization?
Nowadays, as we are now having these innovated things, people are now easily can
have access on particular matter that is needed to use innovations. Technologies help us to
make our life easier. As we have these technologies, these are paired with the use of social
media wherein we can communicate others all over the world. These are made in order for
all of us to communicate those people who are far to us, and that we can keep in touch with
them. Social media can help also by the means of evangelization.
Whenever we scrolled up and down on the Internet tools, finding something that can
entertain us, there are also things that we can actually do to help others in a way that can
lessen the burden that they have felt inside. Indeed, there are entertainments in social
media that can lift our mood whenever we felt sad or we did not know what we are feeling.
There are a lot of funny videos that can make us happy. However, this happiness that we
have felt within these subjects will not last long, in just a span of a minute, we turned again
to felt things that we carried burden in our hearts. It is another way around if there is
actually something that can make us realize things that is for long lasting or that can engrave
in our hearts that will help us to be enlighten about things that surround us.
We can use social media as means of evangelization, by spreading the Good News or
sharing verses that can make a person reflected into it. We can use these as a way
communicating others who are far away from us, that we cannot reach at them personally,
but with the help of social media we can help them virtually. We can help others by sharing
our experiences how our faith forming into Christ.
Additionally, we can use social media as a way to form someone’s faith growing into
Jesus. It is cause different impact in our lives if there are something that can make us realize
things that can actually engrave in our hearts and so we can reflect from it. It brings another
impact if we can help someone through our words that will retain or stay in their mind for
long compared to the entertainments that they can see throughout social media platforms.
Hence, we can use social media in a righteous way. Not just by spreading good vibes
towards others, but also spreading things that can someone can reflect in to it or get a
lesson from those things. We can help each other by the means of using Internet tools as an
easy access for us to keep in touch who lives far away from us. We can these as a means of
evangelization.
 3. Talk about this statement: “Jesus’ mission has a church, rather than the church has a
mission.” How does this statement strike you?
The mission of Jesus is presented in Lk. 4.18-19: to bring good news to the poor. As I
have read this passage strikes me differently. As we all know, Jesus is the one who save us
from our sins. He was the one who have been sent by God the Father because of love.
Because of this love, Jesus did everything just to freed us from our sins, to proclaim the
freedom from the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.
Because of this we are all His mission rather than church has a mission.
The Church is called to collaborate with the mission of Christ in this world, to spread the
Good News, to spread the teachings of Christ, and to tell the truth about Jesus. Jesus’
mission is us; we are all His mission and that is to give us the salvation and to be able with
His Father together.
This statement strikes me in a way that it reminds to continue Jesus’ mission in this
world. As a one of the followers of Christ, this helps me to remember the thing that I should
do while I am still living. All of us are called to spread the Good News to the whole world so
that people who will know the truth about Christ and will be aware that all of us are
welcome to enter to His Father’s Kingdom and to be with Him. By the virtue of the dignity of
baptism, I am called to spread the Word of the Lord to the others and help them to get the
enlightenment that they need in their lives.
Therefore, this statement needs to remember by every one that we are being called to
collaborate with Jesus’ mission rather than to be mistaken that this our mission. We should
always remember the central of this mission is Jesus Christ and not the Church because
what we are spreading to the world is all about his teachings, practices, to be aware about
the Kingdom of His Father, and most especially how we perceive these things and became
witness of Christ with experiences how we are all living with Jesus Christ within us, and
through this we further Christ’s mission. By this statement it helps to remember that the
Church is the instrument of Christ’s mission and not an end itself.
4. In what ways is the evangelizer evangelized by others?
By virtue of the dignity of baptism we are called to spread the Good news. Before we
become an evangelizer, we firstly evangelized by others. There are people who are willing to
help us in order to get the enlightenment that we need in ourselves. We have to know the
truth about Jesus, his teachings and doings, about the Good News, and most especially how
we perceive these things and became witness of Christ with experiences how we are all
living with Jesus Christ within us. With the help of these actions, now we know how to help
others by means of evangelize them. We know what to do in order to help the others in
bringing them with us towards the salvation that Jesus offers to us. To be an evangelizer,
there are ways how to evangelized others.
Firstly, you will prepare yourself first before having a conversation with that person.
Preparing yourself to talk about your faith and how you live your life with Jesus within you.
It takes courage to talk about this because they might not interest in listening for this, but
keep in mind positive things. Pray to God to ask for His guidance and give courage for you to
be able to accomplish the things that you may do. Prepare the questions that you may
possibly ask to them, as your guide onto what are the things that you both will talk about.
And, prepare also for the message that you are going to give them in order for them to
understand and reflect what you have shared with them.
Second, after meeting that person, you will ask first how the life of that person going on,
if it he/she is okay or not. In this way you will be able to comprehend or to know that
person. There are instances that we quickly judge others based on how they act without
knowing first their reasons why they have to act like that. That is why asking a person how is
he/she doing in his/her life will be able to us to know if he is happy or not in their lives. Have
a small talk between that person so that you both comfortable to each other.
Third, now ask the questions that you have prepared for them. Ask them in a way that
they can comprehend what you are going to talk about. In this way, you will have an
exchange point of views in life. Let that person shared what have they been through in life.
Let them burst out their feeling or emotions that they have felt inside. After they have
shared what they have been through, now do the talking. Slowly, get to the point that you
want to express to them. Give them a passage that they can reflect about it – read a Gospel
to them. Shared your experiences in life how you have been through also before you knew
about Jesus and after you live Him within you.
Lastly, after the sharing, give them a message that they can take as a lesson/s in their
life. A message which it may able to change their perspectives in life. This message will help
them to believe in God and to have faith in him. Remember that you helped that person in
order to get the enlightenment that we need.
Sometimes, we did not notice that we already helped people to have faith in God and to
believe again to Him. We did this, even if we just want to share what we have been through
in life before and after we met who Christ is and how Good News impacts in our lives. This
could be a message for them already. We did not notice we already evangelized others by
means of our righteous actions in life.

Resources:
 Download Evangelii Nuntiandi from vatican.va and use it as the major text for the course (Hereafter “EN”). Numbers are
paragraphs.
 Vatican II: Gaudium et spes, Ad gentes, and Apostolicam Actuositatem. Click here to access all the Vatican II documents.
 On Evangelization in the modern world (Evangelii Nuntiandi), Paul VI, esp. 18.
 National Directory for Catechesis, 21-40, 41-53, 63-68.
 “Go and make disciples,” USCCB, 1992.
 Catechism of the Catholic Church (Hereafter “CCC”), 2044-2051.
 “Evangelization” in New Dictionary of Theology, The Liturgical Press, (1987), 357-360.