Theological aspects of Evangelization

This article is taken from a talk given by the Author to the Diocesan Priests of Dhaka on September 21, 2004 There are several possible approaches to such a vast theme. Mine is only one among many; my only ambition is to help your reflection and to offer a few hints to your kind consideration.

Holiness: the starting point

“After the Jubilee and its many programs, what shall we do?” This is the question John Paul II poses to the Church in his Apostolic Letter “Novo Millennio Ineunte” (2001). His answer is centered on a very simple concept: “It is not a matter of inventing a new program. The program already exists: it is the plan found in the Gospel and in the living Tradition, it is the same as ever. Ultimately, it has its center in Christ himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may live the life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its fulfillment in the heavenly Jerusalem” (n. 29). This program “has to be translated into pastoral initiatives (…). First of all, I have no hesitation in saying that all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness” (n. 30). The key idea here is that the Pope wants all pastoral initiatives to be seen and taken in relation with holiness. I take this position as a challenge and as an opportunity to develop the subject that I have been assigned, and I ask myself: can we put missiology directly and explicitly in relation with holiness? Can holiness be taken as starting point for a reflection about evangelization? We can relate evangelization with holiness in two possible ways. The first, and common way, considers holiness from a moral, ascetical, spiritual point of view. Holiness is then understood as a necessary support of the mission. Without holiness, the missionary cannot touch the hearts of the people to whom he wants to announce the Gospel. No matter how much he or she works, if that work is not done in prayer and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it is not successful. Witness and holiness do more than any activity, program, preaching and teaching. A thought of Paul VI in his Encyclical Letter “Evangelii Nuntiandi” has become popular among preachers: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (EN, n. 41) Holiness, in this sense, is somehow a “condicio sine qua non” to make evangelization correct and effective; and prayer is like the engine, the energy given to the evangelizing mission of the Church. The Encyclical “Redemptoris Missio” invites the missionaries to reflect about the “duty” to be holy, and as a consequence the duty to renew oneself in one’s vocation (see: n. 90). I cannot but agree and I believe we can never insist too much on this point.

Holiness is a participation in God’s life

Yet, besides this, we can consider a second point of view, and try to see holiness as a source of evangelization, or better, the reason why we evangelize. What is holiness? Is it good moral behavior, intense prayer life, exemplary and humble dedication? Of course it is, but where do all these things come from? In the “Novo Millennio Ineunte” the Pope quotes an intense, beautiful chapter of the Lumen Gentium, which some consider the masterpiece of the Vatican II. This chapter, before talking about the duty of being holy, clearly asserts where holiness originates. “Indeed Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is praised as ‘uniquely holy’, loved the Church as his bride, delivering himself up for her. He did this that he might sanctify her. He united her to himself as his own body and brought it to perfection by the gift of the Holy Spirit for God’s glory. Therefore in the Church, everyone whether belonging to the hierarchy, or being cared for by it, is called to holiness, according to the saying of the Apostle: ‘For this is the will of God, your sanctification’.” (L.G. 39) Holiness belongs to God only; it is fully shared among Father, Son and Holy Spirit; it is God’s divinity so to say. No one can approach; no one can understand God’s holiness, yet the Bible tells us that we can somehow have an experience of it, because it is an “open holiness”. Much to our surprise, we discover that God does not want to keep it as an exclusive privilege that we can only adore from afar, with respect and fear. Indeed God’s holiness is transcendent, but it opens itself to what is not holy, in order to sanctify by communication. “Christ – say the Lumen Gentium – delivered himself up for the Church, that he might sanctify her”. So we should understand holiness first of all as a gift of God, the trice Holy. It is God’s initiative to sanctify us by sharing in God’s sanctity. Holiness must be understood as what we receive and what we become because of God the Father’s action in us, by sending the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then of course we must consider holiness as our answer to this gift, an answer that requires our commitment, our ascetic effort, our repentance, and our dedication. But holiness is not built in us by our effort; it is the Holy Spirit’s molding activity that bears fruit through our docility and cooperation. The best example of it comes from Mary. God’s grace made her holy first, and thanks to her full cooperation and self donation, it also made her able to bear the best fruit of humankind: Jesus, the Holy one of God. Human holiness means being called to share in God’s holiness. As a consequence, we should remember that evangelization does not primarily consist in giving people correct notions about God, neither is it primarily meant to teach people how to behave, how to have a good moral conduct. Evangelization means to bring people the good news that they are called to share God’s divinity and holiness. John Paul II writes: “To ask catechumens: ‘Do you wish to receive Baptism?’ means at the same time to ask them: ‘Do you wish to become holy?’” (NMI n. 31). In God’s absolute freedom there is some sort of “need” to love. “God is love” (I Jn 4:8) and God cannot but love. The same must be said of God’s holiness, that gives existence to a beautiful world, creates man and woman it God’s image, “in the likeness of ourselves” (Gn 1:26). When this “image”, our participation in God’s holiness, is defiled by sins, we are called again to become holy in Christ; that means: to accept salvation. Jesus calls us “friends” and no longer “servants” because he shares everything with us – not because we are worthy to be called friends. We are made the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Holiness (see: Jn 15:14-15, and Rm 8:9). Forgiveness is part of this “love story”. Since we are sinners, God’s holiness shows itself through forgiveness. We are purified by Christ’s blood as a pre-condition to be made holy: “Christ delivers himself up for the Church in order to make her holy” we read in the Lumen Gentium. Holiness and mercy perfectly meet in God.

Holiness needs to share

Now, let us try to go one step ahead. If we are made holy, the first radical transformation performed in us is a passage from sin – which is selfishness with its fruits – to love, which is self-donation with its fruits. A sanctified person shares in God’s love, mercy, self-donation, God’s attitude of communication and communion. We are no longer afraid of death; we do not need to fight for life because we are already given a life that will never perish. So much so that Jesus can proclaim to us this piece of good news: “Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 10:39). Participation to God’s holiness makes us radically able to be like this, to live consistently with this good news, to “imitate God”: “As God’s children, take him as your pattern” (Ep 5:1). By God’s grace we are holy; that is why we must live holiness, and give fruits of holiness. The first of these fruits is that we feel as God feels. As a consequence we “cannot but” share with others what we have become, what we are by God’s grace. If God’s holiness communicates itself, our holiness must be of the same kind. We cannot even think of a holiness that worries about itself only, it is a nonsense, a clear contradiction. The more we grow in perfection, that is the more we become intimate with God and we share in God’s holiness, the more we feel as God feels, and we become loving, merciful, eager to give, to share ourselves with others. One with God, we understand the impassioned appeal of St. Paul to be “a single mind, one in love, one in heart and one in mind” (Ph 2:2), and we are willing to proceed along the same way that Christ followed, the way of kenosis or self denial: “Christ Jesus, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself…” (Ph 2:5-7). We all know how kenosis or self-denial requires our persevering exercise, our ascetic effort, and our repentance. All these and other requirements of perfection are not to be understood as an individualistic effort to answer God’s call. They are a process by which we build the community “one in love”, as I quoted before, and they are the process of mission, of evangelization. The gradual transformation brought about by the holiness we receive and we practice is not previous to evangelization; it is not a parallel to it. It goes along with evangelization. “I have become all things to all people” (1 Co 9:22) is the evangelizing strategy of Paul that requires a constant self-denial to go out and meet the others in their mentality, culture, and needs. It is the attitude of Christ that we are given the privilege to share because we are made holy and we are not afraid of losing our lives. Since we have received so much, we do not have the right to keep it for ourselves because what we receive is the oblative attitude of Christ. That is why Paul can write to the Corinthians his famous statement: “I should be punished if I did not preach the Gospel!” Preaching “is a responsibility which has been put into my hands” (see. 1 Co 9:16-17). It has been said that the Church is missionary “by her very nature”. Correct, but why? Precisely because the Church is made holy by Christ and holiness is by its nature self donating. Let us quote Paul once more as he describes his method and the goal of his evangelizing effort: “I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings” (1 Co 9:22-23). I understand this statement from two points of view: evangelization allows others to share in the blessings of the gospel; evangelization is a way for the missionary to share in its blessings. In other words, Paul says that if he does not evangelize, then he “should be punished”, he is cut off the blessings of the gospel!

Evangelizing salvation?

I have written about evangelization, but till now I have used the word “salvation” or “to save” for the first time, quoting Paul’s words. “Salvation” was the main, maybe the only purpose of evangelization in past times; it is a matter of doubts and questions nowadays. It is very common to hear people say: “If even non baptized people can be saved, what is the use of evangelization?” Or: “Since non-Christians are saved too, why proclaim the gospel to them?” My first reaction to these questions is that if we take the concept of evangelization, or the concept of salvation out of the Bible, very little is left. So we should not be “easy going” on this point. What does the Bible mean with the word “salvation”? Very often by “salvation” we understand “salvation of souls”, “salvation from hell after our death.” Is this what the Bible means? I don’t think so. Several writers wrote the Bible. Many of them wrote about God saving the people of Israel, but they had no clear idea about “survival” of the souls, not even of any kind of punishment or reward after death. When they tell the story of their people saved from slavery in Egypt and how God made them cross the Red Sea safely, surely they don’t mean that those people will go to heaven after their death. This event is salvation because after crossing the sea, they can follow God’s law that they freely accept, go towards the Promised Land, adore their God in dignity, become the free people of God. All these things happen here, in this world, not tomorrow in another world. Indeed revelation develops after that, and new concepts come, like faith in the resurrection and even in the survival of souls, with reward and punishment after death. Yet these developments complete, they do not cancel what had been thought and taught before. If we consider salvation only in relationship with life after death, we are wrong. We can be sure that Jesus’ attention goes beyond the span of this mortal life, yet in his teaching the future begins today. Today we are saved, or not saved; and he gives clear signs of what salvation means now, in this world. Jesus’ miracles are not the performances of a magician who wants to surprise people and show how great he is; they are not primarily “proofs” that he is the Messiah. They are signs of what salvation means. As Jesus shows us through the signs he performs, salvation has several aspects. It means freeing us from a religion that gives us a wrong image of God: believing that God is selfcentered and pleased with our slavery to the law. It means the revelation to us of the true nature of God, who is love, telling us that God wants our human growth and freedom in love. Salvation means to have experience of God’s forgiveness that liberates us from fear and oppression brought about by our sins or by our guilty feelings. Salvation means to open the withered hand of the man who is no longer able to give and to receive; Jesus saves by giving the water that quenches our hearts’ deep thirst. Salvation means to be free from the devil’s power, which is lying, division, and fear that forces us to do what we hate. Salvation is to put the little ones at the very center of the community and of our attention. When we understand, rather I should say when we believe and perceive that salvation is this new kind of human life transformed by God’s grace, the life that Jesus lived, then we can pose the question: can I say that if a person just escapes the final damnation that person does not need anything else? Is this what Jesus taught and did? Is all our evangelization meant only to give people a chance to escape final damnation? A person is saved when he or she is made holy by God’s grace, and this holiness introduces him or her into a new dimension of love, self donation, sharing. Of course the thief crucified at the right of Jesus was saved at the very last moment, and this is a marvelous message of the overwhelming love of Jesus for us till the end. But I do not think that this case should be taken as the paradigm. Evangelization is the commitment of the Church to share the salvation she received and she experiences every day in the life of her faithful. It is a growth in Christ, a search for the real meaning of life in him, a joyful journey toward God, a fight against evil, carrying the cross with hope because we carry it with Jesus. Those who do not know Jesus do not receive this salvation, and we must propose it to them to be saved with them from now on. Truly I must be holy in order to evangelize, but also I must evangelize to be holy because it is only through sharing that I open myself fully to God’s holiness so that it can bear fruit. When I evangelize, I sanctify myself; if I don’t the judgment of Paul is passed on me too: “I should be punished if I did not preach!” Is there anybody in this world who is “saved” in such a way that he or she does not need evangelization any more? Surely this cannot be said of any person who is Christian, not even of the most holy person. So why should I say this about those who are not? The Church is made holy and involved in the journey of humanity towards God; she is the sign, the sacrament of what God does in Christ for everybody, no matter which nation, group, race, religion, or culture the persons belong to. How can she be such a sign, if she does not communicate, share and show that she is saved with the others and for the others? They will decide, then, whether to accept or not; they will make their responsible decision; but we cannot deny or suppress our own very nature.

The goals of evangelization

To understand the sharing and the evangelizing service I am talking about, let us say a word about another aspect of the mission that has evolved in recent times. It was a common idea of almost all the missionaries of the past that their work would be fruitful only if and when they would succeed in bringing as many people as possible into the Church by baptizing them. A missionary who does not baptize has missed the goal of his or her life. Recently, some missionaries and some missiologists have reversed this position and said that, since people can be saved even without baptism proclamation is no longer necessary; it may even be inappropriate, and silent witness and/or dialogue should replace it. I would like to recall briefly that the magisterial teaching accepts a change of stress about the goal of evangelization, but it does not take a position that cuts off any aspect of the missionary activity. Again and again it reiterates that the full participation in the life of the Church that one gets in Baptism is the final goal of evangelization. For this reason, proclamation is given the first place. Yet dialogue, witness, works of charity in different aspects are all evangelizing activities, even if they do not end up in proclamation and baptism. They get their dignity not from the fact that they reach the ideal goal of bringing people to know and accept Christ fully and asking to be baptized, but in themselves. They are what Jesus did in his life on earth and what God wants us, the Church, to do. They are indeed signs of God’s presence, love, care, forgiveness, and gratuitousness: the sower who sows in all kinds of soil, the Almighty who sends rain on everybody. If a Christian takes care of a Buddhist invalid; if she is a good friend of a Muslim; if he lives with patience and forgiveness among non-believers, that Christian is performing an evangelizing mission even if the others do not perceive her/his action as a reason for them to change their belief. The quality of the Christian’s action depends on the presence of the Holy Spirit in her/him and in the motivation she/he has. The presence and the behavior of that Christian makes her/him share the holiness received from the Holy Spirit, no matter how the others accept it or how much they understand and agree. This open-minded and balanced position of the Magisterium of the Church gives us freedom from the anxiety that seems to trouble some of our fellow Christians belonging to Evangelical Groups: they think that non-Christians are condemned if they are not actually baptized, hence their effort, sometimes, to baptize at any cost. At the same time, we are not excused from the evangelizing mission just because, some Catholic say: “There is no use, they do not become Christian!” or: “There is no need, they are saved through their own religion”. We must evangelize anyway; what we have to do is to see how: sometimes proclamation is the appropriate way that has to be practiced along with charity, witnessing, etc; sometimes proclamation is not possible or convenient, but this does not means that the mission is useless or that it is over. As Jesus replied to his Apostles just before his Ascension: “It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come on you, and then you will be my witnesses (…) to earth’s remotest end” (Ac 1:7-8). Surely enough, in the language of the Acts of the Apostles “you will be my witnesses” means, “you will proclaim” first of all. But here I want to stress other aspects: the fact that the mission stems from the presence of the Holy Spirit and that the Apostles are told not to worry about the fruit of their witness

Humble and confident Evangelizers

Let us now draw to a conclusion by asking a few questions, pastoral and spiritual questions that can come from these simple theological hints. Do we see our faith and our Christian life as a sharing in the sanctity of God, and so as a precious gift? Do we practice a pastoral service that is meant to help people to become free and mature, to feel their faith as an enriching, beautiful gift, or do we practice the shortcut of just teaching dogmas and rules to be followed with or without awareness, just to avoid punishment? If this were the case, it is not possible to understand holiness as the source of mission. Mission will be seen just as yet another duty to perform. A duty that I avoid as much as possible, ready to accept any excuse to escape such a difficult mandate. Mission will be understood only as an effort to increase the number of the members of our Church, at the risk of falling under the frightening threat of Jesus: “Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as fit for hell as you are!” (Mt 23:15). How can we avoid this judgment? Surely, not by stopping the evangelizing mission! In his interesting report to the FABC on “Ecclesia in Asia”, Bishop Malcon Ranjith (Sri Lanka, at the time Joint Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) says that in Asia we easily make these mistakes about missionary activity: - We think that we are not able; we cannot perform it - We want to see immediate results - We work alone - We think that we are too few and too weak to be effective We must overcome this worldly mentality – Bishop Ranjith says – that puts confidence in numbers, power, prestige, and instead enter the Gospel mentality of gratuitousness, sincerity of heart, and confidence. (1) On the same occasion Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil (Guwahati, India) describes to the evangelizers in Asia three “icons”, which I want to propose as a conclusion of my reflection. - First “icon”: “The searcher in the night”, Nicodemus, (see: John 3). He is embarrassed by his culture ad by his social position that leaves him no freedom to investigate. He questions Jesus during the night, not to be seen by anybody, yet he is a righteous and sincere man, and Jesus patiently gives him time and accompanies him in his search. Evangelizers in Asia must pay attention to the many Nicodemuses of this Continent in our time; they must know that: “Such a Nicodemus will approach only an Evangelizer who is available and has his heart open to the core concerns of his people.” An Evangelizer, Archbishop Thomas thinks, who can understand and accompany the profound research of such a man or woman, because even a profound Seeker may be misguided by a superficial Evangelizer as the discussion remains on a shallow level. - Second “icon”: “The receiver of a Surprise Gift”, the Woman of Samaria (see: John 4). She goes to fill her jar and she discovers the Messiah; she believes in him along with her village. “The history of Asia has witnessed group acceptance of Christian faith in similar manner in every century. Even today it keeps happening among the followers of traditional religions. Some such communities show amazing openness to the inspired teacher who visits their village. In the Christian message they find the fulfillment of all that their society had been longing for”. - Third “icon”: “Believer beyond the fold”, the Roman Centurion whose servant is healed by Jesus (see: Mt 8). He is also praised: “I tell you, I have never found anyone in Israel with faith like this” (Mt 8:10). According to Archbishop Thomas: “There are millions of people on the Asian continent who are closer to this Roman officer than to Peter, James and John. They are unversed in faith-statements and formulations, rites and rituals, Church traditions and elusive speculations (…) and yet they have faith. It was on seeing a Canaanite woman’s faith that Jesus exclaimed, ‘You are a woman of great faith’ (Mt 15:28). God seems to have a unique way with such persons. Indeed there will be place in the Kingdom of Heaven for the many who will come from east and west to sit down and feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Mt 8:11)”. (2) Where a narrow-minded missiology sees no possibilities or no needs for evangelization, an evangelical attitude of sharing discovers many possibilities to spread the seeds of the Gospel, and even to perceive the signs of the eschatological feast that begins now. To be able to see these signs, we must feel as God feels, his ardent desire to unite all men and women to himself. We must share his holiness that humbles and empties itself to the point of disappearing to the eyes, to be revealed to the hearts. Fr. Franco Cagnasso, PIME Holy Spirit Major Seminary Banani – Dhaka

(1) See: RANJITH Malcom L’Evangélization à la Lumière d’Ecclesia in Dossiers et documents N. 2/2003 - Eglises d’Asie N. 369, Paris, 16 fèvrier 2003, pp. 3-11

(2) See: MENAMPARAMPIL Thomas Sharing the Gift of Faith in Asia in: Omnis Terra, Rome, n. 334 February 2003, pp. 59-74