GIVING FLAVOR TO LIFE
One of the most urgent tasks for the Church today and always is assuring that faith arrives to people as «good news».
Frequently we understand evangelization as an almost exclusively doctrinal task. Evangelizing would be bringing the doctrine of Jesus Christ to those who still don’t know it or know it insufficiently.
Therefore we concern ourselves with securing religious teaching and the propagation of the faith in the face of other ideologies and ways of thinking. We look for men and women who are well formed, who know perfectly the Christian message and transmit it correctly. We try to improve our pastoral techniques and organization.
Naturally all this is important, since evangelization implies announcing the message of Jesus Christ. But this isn’t the only or even the most decisive aspect. Evangelizing doesn’t just mean verbally announcing a doctrine, but making present in the lives of people the humanizing, liberating and saving power that is contained in the events and the person of Jesus Christ.
When evangelization is understood in this way, what’s most important isn’t relying on powerful and effective means of religious propaganda, but knowing how to act in the liberating style of Jesus.
What’s decisive isn’t getting men and women who are well formed doctrinally, but being able to count on living witnesses of the Gospel. Believers in whose life can be seen the humanizing and saving power that is contained in the Gospel when it is welcomed with conviction and responsibility.
We Christians have often confused evangelization with the desire that «our Christianity» would be accepted in society. Jesus’ words that call us to be «salt of the earth» and «light of the world» oblige us to ask ourselves very serious questions.
Are we believers «good news» for anyone? What is being lived out in our Christian communities, what is being observed among believers, is it «good news» for people today?
Do we Christians put in the society of today something that gives flavor to life, something that purifies, heals, and frees from spiritual decomposition and the brutal selfishness of lack of solidarity? Do we live something that can enlighten people in these times of uncertainty, offering a hope and a new horizon to those who seek salvation?
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
