The Bishops Speak

 

There has been a lot of great teaching from some bishops with Kansas ties regarding evangelization lately. 

In the latest issue of The Leaven, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas discusses the connection between St. Paul and the challenges of the New Evangelization.  Archbishop Naumann notes:

In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul addresses the rivalries within the Christian community itself. Some had questioned Paul’s credentials and leadership. With embarrassment, Paul begins to “boast” of his qualifications to preach and teach the Gospel:

“But what anyone dares to boast of (I am speaking in foolishness) I also dare. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I am talking like an insane person.) I am still more, with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, far worse beatings, and numerous brushes with death. Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fasting, through cold and exposure. And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches” (2 Cor 11: 21-28).  

When you listen to that litany of adversities, the challenges we face today pale in comparison. As we strive to embark on the new evangelization, St. Paul is an excellent model and patron. The new evangelization is not about inventing a new Gospel or new message. What is new about the new evangelization is it utilizes some of the modern tools for communication. In part, the new evangelization is aimed at presenting the truth and beauty of the Gospel to the so-called digital continent, where so many young people today spend a great deal of time. 

What is also new about the new evangelization is to whom it is directed. The new evangelization attempts to re-evangelize parts of the world that historically were profoundly Catholic, but where today the practice of the faith has been radically diminished.  

However, what remains consistent about evangelization in every age is that it requires individuals, like St. Paul, who are willing to make heroic sacrifices to bring the truth and the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others. In part, what made St. Paul’s preaching so powerfully compelling were the extraordinary personal sacrifices he was willing to make so that others would experience the love of God revealed in his Son, Jesus Christ.  

If we want to turn the hearts of people today toward Jesus Christ and his Gospel, we must be willing to do no less.

This month, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, who was raised and ordained in Kansas, released a pastoral letter on evangelization for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.  The pastoral letter is a vision of evangelization rooted in the universal call to holiness that leads to apostolic zeal.  In Go Make Disciples: A Vision forthe Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Archbishop Coakley reminds us that we cannot give what we do not have:

To evangelize others is to invite them into friendship and relationship with Jesus Christ. Before we invite others, we the evangelizers must ourselves be truly evangelized. The evangelizers must first become disciples. We have to be in relationship with Jesus. We have to know him and know that we are loved by him. It is not enough to know about Jesus. We have to become his friend. We have to sit at his feet and learn from him as did Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus (Lk 10:39). We have to fall in love.

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” These words of Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., former Superior General of the Jesuits, describe the experience of discipleship rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Only the disciple can effectively evangelize others.

Bishop James D. Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, also raised and ordained in Kansas, offers two articles this month on evangelization.  Adapting an address he gave to a Catholic Answers Conference, Bishop Conley stresses the role of beauty in the New Evangelization in his article Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Role of Beauty in the Restoration of Catholic Culture.  After sharing the story about his conversion to a deeper spiritual life inspired by an encounter with beauty while studying at the University of Kansas, Bishop Conley explains:

Beauty is both ancient and new: we are at once surprised and comforted by its presence.  Beauty exists in a sphere beyond time. And so beautiful things expose us to the timelessness of eternity.

This is why beauty matters, in an eternal sense. Beauty was part of God’s creative plan in the beginning, and it is just as much a part of his redemptive plan now. God has placed the desire for beauty within our hearts, and he uses that desire to lead us back to himself. 

Truth and beauty are both gifts from God. So our New Evangelization must work to make truth beautiful. By means both ancient and new, we must make use of beauty—to infuse Western culture, once more, with the spirit of the Gospel. 

By means of earthly beauty, we can help our contemporaries discover the truth of the Gospel. Then, they may come to know the eternal beauty of God—that beauty Saint Augustine described as “ever ancient, ever new.”

Bishop Conley recommends three areas of focus especially when it comes to beauty and the New Evangelization:  present truths of the faith in a beautiful way (especially in liturgical worship), become more familiar with the beauty found in historic Christian culture, and recognize all authentic manifestations of beauty.

In his second article this month on evangelization, Bishop Conley addresses those who are already evangelized in Evangelizing the Evangelizers.  I especially like his call for more “Frank Sheeds”:

Frank Sheed was a British layman who converted to Catholicism in 1913 at the age of 16. He became one of the most prolific theologians and apologists of the 20th century. Sheed wrote volumes of Catholic books intended for ordinary, working-class Catholics. He published the work of great Catholic minds like Christopher Dawson and Ronald Knox. His books converted thousands. Sheed’s theology was borne of his intimate relationship with Christ and his evangelical fervor: For years, he stood on a soapbox in London’s Hyde Park and discussed Catholicism with hecklers and passersby. Many of them became disciples.

Sheed’s ministry was the fruit of his discipleship. With his wife, Maisie, Frank Sheed regularly frequented confession and Mass, and he studied Scripture carefully. His effective apostolate was rooted in an active relationship with the living Christ. 

It is said that people today have more questions about the faith than ever before, and there are fewer people trained to answer those questions than ever before. The world needs more Frank Sheeds — more active Catholics committed to a new evangelization. And more Catholics today are eager to engage in the Church’s evangelical mission.

Bishop Conley also commends the work of the Fellowship of Catholic University students:

FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, is an incredibly effective apostolate of evangelization on university campuses. Through scripture study and social activity, FOCUS invites students to real relationship with Jesus Christ. FOCUS missionaries undergo training in leadership and evangelization. They also undergo training in the spiritual life – in practical habits of prayer that root ministry in communion with Christ. FOCUS utilizes a simple paradigm for evangelization: Win, Build, Send.

While recognizing the kergymatic encounters with Christ are a beginning, FOCUS recognizes that successful evangelization depends on the formation of evangelizers themselves, because successful evangelization depends on relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Encouraging evangelizers to lives of prayer — and sharing with them how to pray — is an essential component to the Church’s mission. Offering regular opportunities to grow in the spiritual life, and regular opportunities for spiritual direction and prayerful community, is an essential component of formation. Encountering Christ is the beginning. Today, the Church must find new ways to build relationships from encounters.

Finally, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix, a Kansas Native, has published part six of a planned seven installments about evangelization in the United States.  The first six parts of his series Catholic and American? Key Ways to Evangelize Today’s Culture can be found here:

Part One   Part Two   Part Three   Part Four   Part Five   Part Six

The final installment will also focus on the role of beauty in evangelization.  The series by Bishop Olmstead serves as a valuable assessment of the challenges facing efforts to evangelize in America and some key points of reflection.  His focus on the need for discernment in assimilation is one such point made in Part Three:

The Catholic standard for discerning the viability and wisdom of when to assimilate to a culture, or when to resist assimilation, must be the Gospel of Jesus as handed down to us within the Church, and as celebrated in the Sacred Liturgy. In this regard, it is good to recall what Pope Francis said in his first homily as the Successor of Peter: “When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord; we are worldly… We may become a charitable NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord… When we do not profess Jesus Christ, we profess the worldliness of the devil.”

There are some elements in American culture that aid our faithful living of the Gospel and some elements that make doing so more difficult. Likewise, there are still other elements that can have either a positive or a negative impact in carrying out our mission from God. For example, individualism can positively help us to recognize the dignity of each human person, but it also can erode appreciation for the social nature of human beings, the communal nature of our faith, and the call to live in a communion of life and love with all members of Christ’s Body, the Church.

Overall, this is a rich time for receiving guidance from our pastors concerning the New Evangelization!