What Does Evangelization Mean To You?

What do you think of when you see the word evangelization? I used to only think that evangelists were just those larger than life preachers as seen on TV. However, that is not what evangelization is about! I did not fully comprehend what evangelism meant until now. To evangelize means to share the Word of the Lord with others. According to the archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahoney's article "Directions in Evangelization," there are three levels of evangelization:

1) the attention to personal experience.
2) the sharing of experience with another or others in a community of faith.
3) the Word of God helps the person and community to interpret experience in view of the love of God proclaimed in the Scripture.

Cardinal Mahoney talks about NEW EVANGELIZATION which is focused on "evangelizing or re-evangelizing under-catechized, inactive, and alienated Catholics, as well as re-animating the faith of those who have grown up in the Church."

The question is HOW do we evangelize? I used to be scared of that word...I thought it meant standing on a soapbox on a street corner or going to door to door of strangers' houses. I didn't want to embarrass myself or offend others. The key to evangelization is profound RESPECT. We cannot force others or impose our beliefs. I do not believe in conversion through coercion. What we can do is pray and share our personal experiences with our encounter with Christ.

Evangelization can be done in many ways-- through special masses, small prayer groups, ministries, neighborhood celebrations, parish retreats, and even in daily conversations. We must center our daily tasks around the Word of Christ. Thus evangelization is not just limited to words, it is also done through our actions and the examples we set. A lot of people who find themselves alienated from the Church often say that they left because the Church is run by hypocrites. The truth is we are all human and we are not perfect. However the least we can do is practice what we preach! Through words and actions of evangelization, we can pray that we call those alienated from the Church back home.

As Cardinal Mahoney says, "The dynamics of evangelization are more a matter of the heart more than of the head."

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Lord God,
Thank you for all the blessings and gifts you have given us.
May we use our talents and gifts to praise you in every way,
Especially in our evangelization to others.
May they see clearly in your Light.

AMEN