Followship and the Mission

Followship and the Mission of Evangelization

Followship and the Mission of Evangelization
By Fr. Maroun Moubarak m.l.m.
http://www.ayletmarcharbel.org/content/Following-jesus

Our topic centers around “the mission of evangelization,” which is an important aspect of mission, which, in turn, is a cornerstone of Christian life. One cannot follow Christ without committing to the mission. These three form a strong triad: vocation, consecration, and mission. It is such a deeply connected triad that taking out any of its three elements dismantles its whole structure. Hence, mission is an essential part of Christian existence.
At our meeting today, we will focus in a special way on the topic of “the mission of evangelization,” since we meet as part of a series on “followship.” It is only appropriate to focus on evangelization in the month of June, on which falls the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the two pillars of the Church who brought the Good News to the nations, starting with the Chosen People.
The evangelization of Peter and Paul has many characteristics, which we will examine in order to infer guidelines for evangelization in our own Christian life today.

a.The first characteristic: going out to meet people. Right after the descent of the Holy Spirit on them in the Upper Room, the Apostles went out to meet people and witness to them about their experience with Jesus and their understanding of his special mission for humanity. This evangelization has three features:
i.The content of the mission itself, which is the Good News the Apostles brought and talked about: The risen and victorious Jesus is the same Jesus they knew before the Crucifixion. There is no difference between him and the historical Jesus.
ii.Traveling for the mission in search of souls, in order to awaken faith in them and to draw them to Jesus. This is one of the characteristics of the mission which involves geographic movement.
iii.The Apostles received this mission from Jesus through the Holy Spirit: Jesus commissioned them to go and make disciples of all nations and to baptize them…Jesus, then, chose those whom he willed to accomplish this task, and he sent them on a special mission. The mission is presented in his name by the Holy Spirit.

These three features determine the direction of the mission and its theological understanding within the general mission of the Church. This is what the Church actually implements in her mission today.

The second characteristic: speech and dialogue. After they went out to meet people, the Apostles talked to them about Jesus, and they transmitted to them the news of his resurrection from the dead. They focused on his person as the Son of God after they had experienced his resurrection and known that he was the same one who walked the streets of Jerusalem with them, taught them, and performed miracles before their eyes…Speech is essential to evangelization and to transmitting the Good News. It is the Apostles’ life testimony on their time with Jesus.
The third characteristic: Helping people develop the mind of Christ. The Apostles preached the Good News to people so that they may receive Christ’s salvation by entering in his plan of salvation and embracing his ways through repentance and baptism. Every time Peter would speak to people, their hearts would be moved, and they would ask him what to do, and he would answer them: “Repent and be baptized” (Act 2:37-38). This is how people were brought into the mind of Christ.
The Church learned from, and mediated on, the work of Peter and Paul, and she replicated it over the centuries to ensure the legitimacy of her mission and to accomplish it perfectly. Over the years, Apostolic work increased, and so did the reflection on the mission of the Church which produced multiple official teachings issued by the Apostolic See. In one of his encyclicals, Redemptoris Missio, Pope John Paul II calls on the Church to renew her apostolic commitment…For, indeed, “missionary activity renews the Church, revitalizes faith and Christian identity, and offers fresh enthusiasm and new incentive. Faith is strengthened when it is given to others! It is in commitment to the Church’s universal mission that the new evangelization of Christian peoples will find inspiration and support” (Redemptoris Missio, 2).
The Church understands that the central tenet of her mission is that “Jesus Christ is the only Savior,” and she knows that her fundamental function “is to direct man’s gaze, to point the awareness and experience of the whole of humanity towards the mystery of God” (Redemptoris Hominis, 10).
The Church is the primary beneficiary of salvation. Christ redeemed her with his blood so that she may share with him in his plan of salvation. The Second Vatican Council emphasizes this in its decree Lumen Gentium #13 that highlights the election of the Church by the Lord so that she may share with him in man’s salvation by the “gift of the Spirit.” It says that this messianic people is “established by Christ as a communion of life, charity and truth; it is also used by Him as an instrument for the redemption of all, and is sent forth into the whole world as the light of the world and the salt of the earth” (LG 9). (The arabic text wrongly cites LG 13) Hence, we repeat with the Apostle Paul: “I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16).
The Holy Spirit plays a fundamental role in ecclesial evangelization. He descended on the Disciples in the Upper Room in the form of tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost and made them into witnesses and prophets (Acts 1:8). He also infused them with confident boldness which helped them tremendously to convey their experience of Jesus to others and to witness to the hope they have received and which purifies their whole life. The Holy Spirit clearly worked in the Early Church, for he guided her mission and motivated her to expand in and out of Jerusalem, to reach all peoples and nations.

It is the proper role of the Holy Spirit to make the Church “apostolic,” by gathering the faithful and forming them into a “community” which assembles to hear the “Good News,” to live in communion, prayer, and the Breaking of the Bread. It is a fraternal communion, a Koinonia. . Thus, these communities preached the “Good News” through their life witness because they were characterized by their unity of heart and soul, communion on all levels (spiritual, material, and human), the distribution of goods among all so that none remain in need, joyful living and simplicity of heart, enthusiasm, openness, and apostolic work. This is how the Church carried out her mission by witnessing and shining her light before putting in the effort and starting to work. The Holy Spirit was present and active in the heart of every move the Church made, and he is active especially in each of her members.

The paths of mission: they are many, and they constitute the predication of Jesus Christ through word, deed, and service. Pope John Paul II outlines them in chapter 5 of the encyclical mentioned earlier, Redemptoris Missio:
1. The first form of evangelization is witness: it is the witness of Christian living, the first and irreplaceable form of mission. It is “the very life of the missionary, of the Christian family, and of the ecclesial community, which reveal a new way of living.” It consists of living “a simple life, taking Christ as the model. […] The complete generosity underlying this attitude and these actions stands in marked contrast to human selfishness. It raises precise questions which lead to God and to the Gospel.”
2. Evangelization is the proclamation of Christ, the Savior. Pope Paul VI says in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi that God has delegated the Church to proclaim him as Savior, and that “evangelization will always contain…a clear proclamation that, in Jesus Christ...salvation is offered to all people, as a gift of God’s grace and mercy.”
3. The proclamation of the Word of God has Christian conversion as its aim, which means a complete and sincere adherence to Christ and his Gospel through faith. Moved by the Holy Spirit, the Apostles called all peoples to reform their lives, to repent, and to receive baptism (Acts 2:37-38).
4. Forming local Churches, which means to establish Christian communities everywhere, communities which are “a sign of the presence of God in the world;” sowing the Word until they become churches who witness to the Lord through their lives.
5. Proclamation as a service of love: love is the source and measure of the mission. The mission of the Church is not limited to proclaiming the Word, but it also includes the “works of charity” that continue the transformative work of Christ. Apostolic work focuses on the “option for the poor” and on defending their rights.
6. Proclamation in the service of dialogue: This is the service of “attentive listening.” Evangelization is not forcing the Christian faith on others or judging them. True mission consists of establishing dialogue about the truth with people who belong to other religions or to no religion. The Church’s mission is built on dialogue and on listening in order to discover the truth more deeply.
7. Proclamation in the service of forming consciences: The Church’s mission aims at the integral development of man and his liberation from all forms of oppression. The Church has always been able to generate among the peoples she evangelizes a drive toward progress. Missionaries are recognized as promoters of development. The Church calls peoples to development, not by accumulating more goods, but by “being more,” by awakening their consciences. Honesty helps to solve the economic and social problems that communities and societies face.
8. “Ecclesial Basic Communities” as a force for evangelization: These communities are proving to be good centers for Christian formation and missionary outreach. These are groups of Christians who, at the level of the family or in a similarly restricted setting, come together for prayer, Scripture reading, catechesis, and discussion on human and ecclesial problems with a view to a common commitment. These communities are a sign of vitality within the Church, an instrument of formation and evangelization, and a solid starting point for a new society based on a “civilization of love.”

This last category includes in a way our own community characterized by carrying out this evangelization through:

Prayer, which is the “prayer of the Church” according to the Maronite Liturgy.
Examining our lives in the light of the Lord’s Word.
Being monks and nuns in the heart of the world, witnessing to the Lord and bringing people to him through an honest life witness.
Building a “civilization of love” built on the Gospel and its Good News.

Amen.

Teaching given to the Family of Saint Sharbel – Wednesday, June 4, 2008