Tuesday 10 July
Matthew 9:32-38
Many things in the Christian life are a great idea until you have to put them into practice. Take forgiveness, for example: that is a cracking idea, until you actually have someone you need to forgive. Or evangelization. Again, fantastic idea, until you actually have to do it.
Jesus compared evangelization to working in a harvest field. He saw that the harvest was plentiful: the problem was finding enough staff or workers to get stuck into the task in hand. Pope Paul VI had a great heart for evangelizing and wrote the masterpiece Evangelii nuntiandi on this very topic. Many commentators believe that Archbishop Karol Wojtyla played a significant role in the drafting of this wonderful document. If you haven’t read it or studied it, you are missing out. But that’s the point, isn’t it – reading such a document probably isn’t very high on our agenda? The crux of Evangelii nuntiandi is that the Church exists to evangelize, so get out there and do it.
We have convinced ourselves, however, that this means just being nice, kind and decent people. We assuage our conscience on this issue with platitudes such as: ‘I evangelize by the way I live my life.’ Well, clearly, living good and holy lives comes with the territory, so to speak. The truth is that a card-carrying, militant atheist can live well: they can be as kind, patient and caring as a believer and sometimes outstrip them. To evangelize is basically to proclaim Christ and to lead people who do not know him into this knowledge. This in itself is a work of grace, both in our lives and in the one who receives the message.
The gospel is essentially then a message, the kerygma. It involves us witnessing to the truth that Jesus, who suffered, died and rose again from the dead, is the Lord of history and the Lord of our lives. And in believing in him and accepting his lordship we are born again and through baptism we enter into the Christian life. The Lord wants to equip us to be effective workers in the harvest field so that we have the freedom and confidence to lead others to Christ.
Lord, teach me not to be afraid to witness to my faith. Teach me never to be ashamed of the gospel but to be proud of the message which can transform not only people’s lives but the whole of culture, society and the world.
Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13 • Psalm 113B(115):3-10
Matthew 9:32-38
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