THE LAITY AS MISSIONARIES

In Go and Make Disciples-  a National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States- the Catholic bishops of the United States have expressed a sincere desire to invite all of God’s children to their place in the Church: “We want to let our inactive brothers and sisters know that they always have a place in the Church and that we are hurt by their absence—as they are. . . . we want to help them see that, however they feel about the Church, we want to talk with them, share with them, and accept them as brothers and sisters.”

One of the problems for me living in this great Northwest is the lack of faith found in its people. Many have more faith in mother nature, than they do in her Creator. And there are also so, so many fallen away Catholics.  While we must try and spread the Gospel to all God’s children, I believe in this time of Evangelization, we need to address the problem of the fallen. All Catholics must realize that in this day of rampant consumerism, they are called to be missionaries.

Some people ask me, “what can I do”, as they have a desire to take on the call to evangelize but feel ill prepared to explain Church teachings. Some believe they lack the formation to be personal witnesses to Christ. More and more I say to Catholics who visit, we as a chosen people need to stand up and make ourselves heard in our neighborhood, in our place of work, in schools, in the community we live in.  We can show humility, patience, and love, as these are the tenants of Jesus’ teachings. We can show by our example living our faith day by day. Remember many saints did not do wondrous things while on earth, but they were an example to those around them.

Pope Benedict XVI has called for the “re-proposing” of the Gospel to those regions where the roots of Christianity are deep but that have experienced “a serious crisis” of faith due to secularization – which certainly fits most of our country today.

He clarified that the New Evangelization is new, not in its content but rather in its inner thrust; new in its methods that must correspond to the times; and new because it is necessary to proclaim the Gospel to those who have already heard it.  Pope Benedict XVI- who I consider astute and deeply spiritual - noted that the Church is being challenged by “an abandonment of the faith—a phenomenon progressively more manifest in societies and cultures which for centuries seemed to be permeated by the Gospel.”

Faith is a precious gift from God and it is the duty of all the faithful to spread this gift to others. There are many, very many, sources of information today for laity. Bishop Barron’s site ("Word on Fire"), EWTN, "The World Over" with Raymond Arroyo,  Father Mike Schmitz (funny, funny man) just to name a few. Many parishes today are offering courses for the laity on evangelization and how better to present the faith to others.