At the heart of evangelization is not doctrine, intelligence or persuasiveness, but rather “the unequaled power of example,” a cultural diversity expert told nearly 450 diocesan catechists last weekend.
“To evangelize, in the deepest sense, is to give witness that” loving as Jesus did and living for God and others “is possible and real,” said Jesuit Father Allan Figueroa Deck, theology professor and Casassa Chair of Catholic social values at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, Calif.
The priest gave the keynote talk at a diocesan Evangelization Congress, held at the Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston, Jan. 31.
Organized under the theme, “The Joy of Encountering Christ: Love Is Our Mission,” the day included workshops in Spanish and English, a vendor exhibit, lunch and Mass with Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez as the main celebrant.
Sponsored by the School of Evangelization, this event was the kickoff for “The Joy of Encountering Christ – The Family’s Hope,” a four-year evangelization and renewal plan for parishes, families and individuals in the diocese.
“We’re here to engage people in the process of bringing the joy of the Gospel to everybody in Brooklyn and Queens and beyond,” said Theodore Musco, executive director, School of Evangelization. “We’re all about spreading the love of Jesus to our neighbors.”
The goal was for participants to reflect on their personal relationships with Christ, discover new ways of evangelizing others and share what they learned in their parish and school communities.
Priests, deacons, religious sisters and laypeople involved in evangelization and catechetical ministries in 50 parishes, schools and academies attended the daylong conference which opened with a prayer offered by Father James Massa, diocesan vicar for evangelization.
Beginning with a PowerPoint presentation, Father Deck spoke about how Pope Francis is moving the Church and the world toward a fresh understanding of the Gospel by communicating a message of inclusiveness, openness and radiant joy.
The former executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Cultural Diversity Secretariat explained that the desire to evangelize is a natural outpouring of the joy each person feels in a living and loving relationship with God.
“When we truly love and accept ourselves as the person God created,” he said, “then we are disposed to love and accept others.”
To Live Authentically
Furthermore, he said, evangelizers must be people of prayer who integrate faith and morals in their daily lives. In this way, Catholics are living witnesses of the power of God’s unconditional love and what it means to authentically live the faith.
Father Deck reminded attendees that God always takes the first step to reach out in love and “everything rises and falls on our receptivity” to God.
Those words resonated with attendee Karen Sweeney, whose receptivity to God’s love led her to join the Catholic Church in 1989. Today, she’s an active and joyful member of St. Sebastian parish, Woodside. She thought Father Deck’s talk was “on target” and she looks forward to hearing what the Holy Father will say at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this fall.
In anticipation of that meeting, Sweeney said her parish is offering “Love Is Our Mission,” a preparatory catechesis “to get families to be filled with joy.”
“We’re really trying to get people on fire and fall in love with Christ,” she said. More than just experiencing that fire within themselves, “we have to be able to share it and the best place to start is the family.”
Starting this winter, the School of Evangelization is forming small parish groups and training leaders to implement new initiatives as part of this ongoing diocesan renewal effort.