Evangelization in today's world

Evangelization is a big word. I attempted asking random people in the street what evangelization means, and responses I got ranged from a blank stare to “I don’t know” to “Is that the same as preaching?” to “the sole work of priests” to “missionaries on TV.” Ask different church or mission groups what it is, and you will most likely get a variety of definitions as widely diverse as their distinct calling and charisms.

A quick look-up of the original Greek text of the word “evangelization,” or the Latin usage of the verb evangelizare, leads to a compound of “good” and “announce,” roughly translating to “announcing the good news.” To Christians, it is the announcement of the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him. Our Holy Fathers in the Catholic Church declare evangelization as the mission of every believer. Servant of God Pope Paul VI, in his 1975 Apostolic Exhortation declared that “the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14), meaning, it is your and my mission, as part of the Church of believers. This 1975 Apostolic Exhortation also used the term “evangelization” to refer to every aspect of the Church’s activity, which includes preaching, catechesis, liturgy, the sacramental life, popular piety and the witness of a Christian life (Evangelii Nuntiandi 17, 21, 48). Pope Benedict XVI affirms the importance of evangelization, or the mission of proclaiming Christ, in the life of every Christian. He has declared “new or renewed evangelization of an increasingly secular world” a theme of his Pontificate, with emphasis on reaching out to those who do not know their faith well, or no longer practice the Christian faith.

I have some close friends who have been called to evangelize in foreign lands. Just yesterday, I was awe-struck listening to my friend Kirby Llaban’s stories about his recent Couples for Christ mission to Sierra Leone and Liberia. I have only seen these West Africa republics in movies, often infamously portrayed by Hollywood for their “blood diamonds” and past civil wars. Kirby told me about the beauty of their people, the openness of their hearts to the love and hope of Christ, their faith flowing richly like the gush of life-giving water from poverty-cracked jars of hardened clay. I have another friend who works for a global manufacturing firm based in China. An excellent corporate leader by day, and a committed CFC missionary volunteer in the evenings and weekends, he traverses China’s cosmopolitan cities and remote provinces with his wife, bringing Christ to a people hungry for fullness that lasts. I join him in his personal conviction that God has plans for China to be a cradle of new evangelization.

While there are those called to courageously go to the ends of the earth as witnesses spreading God’s word, like Kirby and my friend in China, most of us are called to evangelize within the daily settings of our home, our communities, and our workplaces. To evangelize is to proclaim in our daily lives the love, hope and life of Christ that our Father in heaven intends as lasting victory for us and for all. We are to seek out especially those, who, like us, have been bruised and beaten by sin, secularism, material want, poverty, hopelessness, loneliness, lack of purpose, and fear of death. To evangelize is to do our best to transmit to others around us the Gospel and the faith that we ourselves live. For we know, by the experience of the Holy Spirit in our lives, that this Gospel and faith rooted in Christ — joyful, transformative, full and lasting — comes with boundless grace and power to bless all. To evangelize is to strive our best to make a difference for the Lord where He sends us in the ordinariness of our daily living. By this, we participate in the Spirit’s plan for the present and the future Church — a new evangelization, namely, a fresh proclamation of Jesus’ message “which brings joy and sets people free.”

If in our self-absorbed busyness we fail to pause and look, and amidst the blare of discordant noise we fail to hear — we could, along our common day, miss what could be life-changing opportunities to proclaim God’s hope to His searching people. I still remember rushing to our office cafeteria that unremarkable afternoon, sometime in 2000 in Singapore (where my family lived for a decade when I still engaged in the corporate world). My mind was set for a 7-minute solitary lunch, my head bowed down to avoid lunch-mates, so that I can catch my next meeting. Here comes Oh Yu Hwang, my Singaporean officemate, setting his tray on my table, while blurting, “No worries, Melo, I also need to leave for a meeting in 5 minutes.” Then he mumbles, with mouth half-full, “My friend, I notice you are seldom perturbed by the toxic stress of our daily quotas and deadlines. May I know the secret that keeps you calm and productive in the midst of the turmoil in our workplace?” He knew I was involved in Couples for Christ, and pre-empted me with a warning, “You must know, Melo, that I am an atheist, or at best, a free thinker, but I have five minutes to listen to what you believe in. I do not have the time, but I am sincerely interested.”

There I was, late for my meeting, challenged by my Lord to influence the life of a non-believer within 5 minutes flat! I decided to set aside my meal, and instead, do my best to impart the Bread of Life that has been nourishing me and my family all those years. With a silent prayer, and in 3 minutes flat, I told Yu Hwang, “My calmness at work, believe it or not, is not from me. It comes from my God who strengthens me. I believe He is the God of all of us, including you, my friend. He loves you and I so much even though we are sinners, that He gave up Heaven and chose to become man among us 2000 years ago (His name is Jesus), so that He can live, and die for us, and rise on Easter, to show us today that you and I can be victorious over any turmoil, over sin, even over death. His Spirit lives with us today, holds my hand in the office, and He desires to be your God, and your strength, and your joy, in our workplace. And by the way, He desires to share with you His eternal life in heaven.”

 Food almost spilling out of his mouth, Yuh Hwang exclaimed, “Woh, woh, this is too much for me to digest. I have to understand more to be able to believe.” I looked at my watch. I and he had exactly 1 minute remaining. I remember telling him, “My friend, I have realized this — the most important, life-changing mysteries in my life I have come to understand deeply, only after I, first, chose to believe. If you talk to God and choose to believe that He exists, then, He will help your heart to understand.” That noon, after a 5-minute “lunch”, Yu Hwang walked away, bemused and befuddled. I did not see him again, for he was reassigned by our company to East Malaysia.

Fast-forward 7 years after to 2007. I and my family are back in Manila, my wife and I serving as full-time volunteers for Couples for Christ. My phone rings, a distant but familiar voice on the other end. “Melo, remember me. This is Yu Hwang from Singapore. I just graduated from the RCIA in our Catholic Parish and about to be baptized as a new Christian. Just wanted to thank you for our whirlwind lunch 7 years ago. You are right. The moment I chose to believe, then, my heart began to understand. Thank you for introducing me to the faith.” I responded, “Yu Hwang, what a wonderful day this is. There is only the Lord that both of us have to thank. I have to confess to you, that when I spoke those words to you 7 years ago, I was fearful, and my heart doubted if you would even listen. Today, the Lord reminds me those were not my words, but the words from His Spirit. His words always come with the mighty power of His love, and His love never fails.”

The Holy Father reminds us in Evangelii Nuntiandi that evangelization “is the carrying forth of the good news to every sector of the human race so that by its own strength it may enter into the hearts of men and renew the human race.” Today, my dear friend, is your day to evangelize. Proclaim the Lord in word and in deed. Do not be afraid — the Lord is with you and great is His power!

Drifting among the vast sea of people, drowned out by waves of mindless clatter, souls are crying out, searching for the embrace of Fullness. Who will you reach out to? Whose life will you change, by the power of the Lord, today?