Evangelization – Continuing the Mission of Jesus Christ

By Fr. Gregory Hartmayer, OFM Conv.

 (Homily given on Sunday, July 8, 2007)

Isaiah 66:10-14; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

 My Dear Friends,

The Gospel passage that we just heard from Luke’s Gospel was a favorite of St. Francis of Assisi.  In fact, it was so meaningful for him that he incorporated it into the Rule of Life for the Franciscan Order.  As we Friars go out into the world, we are to take very little with us.  We really don’t need very much…we simply need God’s grace and lots of perseverance.  We are all familiar with this particular Gospel passage, especially the verse that says, “The harvest is rich, but the laborers are few.”  Many times, when this passage is read, we usually understand it to mean that we need to pray for more vocations to the Priesthood, to the Diaconate, or to Religious Life…more ordained and religious to serve in the Lord’s vineyard.  While that is true…we do need to pray for more priests and more religious vocations…that passage is also meant to be understood in a broader sense.

Since the Second Vatican Council, now more than 40 years ago, all Catholics have been called to a full and active participation in the Liturgy and in the Mission of the Church.  That calling is to all Catholics.  The Holy Spirit, through the Second Vatican Council, is calling all Catholics to be responsible members of the Church.  When we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit at our Baptism and our Confirmation, these sacraments especially dispose us to be active…to be involved…and to be responsible Catholics.

The ordained Priesthood is, of course, necessary and essential to the Catholic Church, for, if we have no priests, then we have no Eucharist.  And so, we have a serious obligation to encourage our children and grandchildren to consider the Priesthood, the Diaconate or Religious Life as a way of responding to God’s call to work in his vineyard.

Never before in history has the harvest, the work of the Church, been so great!  So much is ready in the harvest to reap, but we’ve got to harvest it before it spoils!  Yes, never before in our history has there been such a great harvest, but never before in our history have there been so few laborers.  Never before in history has there been such a need for generous people to step forward and help Jesus with the harvest.

There is a great need in our world…in our community…in our parish…and in our families…to bring the Good News.  There is a great need to bring the Good News of hope…the Good News of salvation…the Good News of healing and of welcome and hospitality.  So many people are deeply wounded…so many are in need of healing...so many are without hope…so many without faith…so many without love.  Every day is harvest day!  Every day we are called to be authentic and genuine and generous disciples of Christ.  Every day…in every way…in every place…the harvest is to be gathered for the Lord.

I said that we are to participate in the Mission of the Church.  What is the Mission of the Church?  What is it that we are calling people forth to do?  If we are calling them to become active in the Mission of the Church…in the Mission of Jesus Christ…what are we talking about?  What is the Mission of the Church?  Simply put, the Mission of the Church is Evangelization…it’s bringing the Good News to others…it’s witnessing our faith…it’s sharing our faith…and all of us are called to do that.  That’s the Mission of the Church.  It has been from the time of Jesus until now.  It has not changed.  The Mission of the Church is for us to know our faith and then to share our faith with others…through our actions…through ministry…through witnessing of some kind.  There are a variety of ways in which we can be a part of the Mission of the Church.

We are the parish community of St. Philip Benizi...and we are dedicated to continuing the Mission of Jesus Christ.  Our Mission Statement tells us so.  Who created the Mission Statement for St. Philip Benizi?  We did!  We described ourselves in that Mission Statement as to who we are and who we want to be…what we are striving to achieve as a parish community.  That Mission Statement was given to me 12 years ago, when I became Pastor at St. Philip Benizi.  It was written by the parishioners and it has served us well.  It is a very well written statement of Mission.  It is on the front of our weekly bulletin…it is on the web site…it is on many publications that we send forth from this church because it tells us who we are.  It reminds us of who we say we are, and what we have to do.  Our Mission Statement states that, as a parish, we are committed to the development of lay leadership and lay ministry.  That means that we are committed to working in the harvest.

Without a doubt, we are a parish that has been very blessed by God because we are willing to open ourselves up and work with his grace.  We cannot do anything alone.  We can do everything with him.  With his grace in our life, we can do things that we could never have done on our own.  We can do his work…in his name.  The ministry in which we are involved will bear fruit because its source is God’s grace.

When I reflected on all of the Renewal Programs that we’ve been involved in over the last 12 years and more, I couldn’t believe it!  Programs like Cursillo…Marriage Encounter…Life Teen…Remembering Church… Renew 2000…Life in the Spirit…Life in the Eucharist…Christ Renews His Parish…those are just some of the Renewal Programs that we’ve had here are St. Philip’s.  I’m so proud of you that have experienced those Renewal Programs, because you were not just participants in the programs, but you also then turned around and became leaders in these programs.  In other words, that program has made a difference in your life.  And now you begin to understand the Mission of the Church.  It’s to live our faith…it’s to witness our faith…it’s to share our faith…it’s to be excited about our faith!

The Renewal Programs that we have had here at St. Philip Benizi have resulted in hundreds of volunteers serving in a variety of ministries within our parish.  When you think about the ministry that you’re involved in, think about how you got started.  Some of you probably answered an invitation and, as a result, have been serving ever since.  But some of you may have been a part of a Renewal Program that challenged you to practice your faith in some visible way…to manifest your inner faith by expressing it or living it out through some ministry that serves the church. We are so grateful for those who have participated in Renewal Programs and then have incorporated them into their life, becoming more active in the lay ministry of this parish.

The most recent Renewal Program has been Christ Renews His Parish.  That has brought hundreds of people to a new awareness of their faith and to a more visible level of ministry within the church.  I have truly enjoyed being a part of this Renewal Program because, through it, I have come to know many men and women of our parish in a more personal way.  It has given me an opportunity to spend quality time with a group of people who are serious about their faith…who are willing to share their faith…and grow in it.  I can honestly tell you that I have probably gained more from that experience than those who participated, because you have demonstrated to me your own faith; how your faith has been tested; how your faith has enabled you to deal with many kinds of life issues; and how your faith has grown because of your openness to the presence of God in your own life.  That has impressed me so much.

There is so much work…and it is work…that needs to be done in the church.  But this work is ministry.  It is work that is based on love…love of God and love of neighbor.  It is something we do that needs to be done!  And God blesses our efforts, and we grow in grace, perhaps even more than the ones to whom we minister.  There is so much that needs to be done that would really enliven the church and give it a greater focus, bringing more people into the active community.

Every one of us has been brought into this world by the grace of the Holy Spirit and each one of us has been given a specific task by God in bringing about His Kingdom in this world…every one of us!  Our God is not just a transcendent God…someone that’s way up there whom we really can’t identify with because he’s so great.  Our God is that, but he is also imminent…he is with us.  In fact, our God is so imminent that he took on our human nature.  How much more interested and involved could he have been…how much closer could our God get to us than to understand what it is to live our daily, human life?  He took on our human nature without diminishing his own; he lived our life and taught us about his Father; he taught us about himself as being the sacrifice that was necessary for our redemption.  He then told us about the Holy Spirit that would come after him to give us direction and guidance as we continue the Mission of Jesus Christ…to share the Gospel with each other.

God knows every one of us.  He created us individually.  He knows our name…he knows how many hairs are on our head.  He knows what our needs are. He knows what gifts he has given us and he expects us to use them.

Many of us are reluctant to get involved in ministry because we feel inadequate or ill prepared.  We may say to ourselves, “How could I possibly teach someone else about our church when I myself don’t know that much about it?”  Well, there you have identified a need to learn more about your church…more about your faith…more about the teachings of the church.  We’re never, never too old to learn.  In fact, we have a responsibility to take advantage of continuing formation and continuing education programs to learn more about our own faith.  If we are baptized and we are confirmed, and we want to be an active member in our church, then we have to continue to learn about our church.  And in doing so, we learn a lot about ourselves!

People will say, “Well, I can’t go and visit sick people in the hospital or Nursing Home.  I don’t like being around sick people.  I don’t know what to say to them.  They make me uncomfortable.”  Well, then, that’s not your gift.  But there are other things that you can become involved in that would be helpful to you and to those that you serve.

“I would like to read at Mass, but no one has asked me!”  or… “I really don’t have anything to offer the church.  I am just a regular person.”  A regular person…what in the world is a “regular” person?!  I’ve never met one….  We’re not regular…we’re unique…and God has made each of us unique.  There is no such thing as a regular person, because he has made us individually.

Some will say, “Well, leave that ministry stuff to the Priests and to the Deacons.  They have the education and they’re specialists.”  Well, I don’t think that the 72 that Jesus sent out to preach and to witness were specialists.  They didn’t have any extra training and probably not much of an education at all…and they probably didn’t have any time either.  But what they did have was a generous heart and a real, good sense of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

For the past six months or so, at every weekend Mass, we have been praying together the Prayer for Evangelization.  What is Evangelization? Evangelization is the Mission of the Church.  It is witnessing our faith…it’s sharing our faith…it’s knowing our faith.  That’s Evangelization….and that has been the only Mission of the Church from the beginning.  It still is today and always will be.  As long as there’s a church, there will be a need to evangelize.  That is the Church’s mission.

At the same time, during these past six months, a group of parishioners have been brought together as a Planning Team to help St. Philip Benizi become an evangelizing parish and plan for its future.  We are using a program entitled, “ENVISION”.  In the formation for those members of the Planning Team, we are reflecting on a document that was written by the Catholic Bishops of the United States entitled, “Go and Make Disciples”.  It is a national plan and strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States.  The primary purpose of this program is to have our parish develop a set of goals for ourselves that we hope to accomplish over the next three years…goals that we can identify and goals that we can achieve.

The short-term:  We will set some goals based on information that we receive from you.  We will agree on the goals and then we will strive to fulfill them and make ourselves accountable to fulfilling them by the year 2010.  This Evangelization Program, called ENVISION, is simply a fulfillment of the Mission of the Church.  It will involve every active parishioner.  We are inviting every one of you to become a part of the process.  Some can become a part of it in a greater way than others, or in a different way than others.  It doesn’t matter…we want to give you the option of being involved.  We want to invite you to help us plan for our future!

During each Mass on the weekend of August 18-19, we will complete a Questionnaire that the Planning Team has designed, together with Georgetown University that does these kinds of Parish Questionnaires for renewal and goal-setting.  The data that we gather from the Questionnaires will help us formulate some necessary goals…some reachable goals that we can strive for over the next three years.  The data will help determine what we are doing well at St. Philip Benizi and what we need to do more of.  Where are we missing an opportunity?  What do we want to see us accomplish over the next three years? 

The primary focus of this program is to identify the spiritual needs of our parish.  That is all.  I am not going to put one more brick on top of another.  We’re going to deal with the spiritual life of the parish.  We’re going to build up the Body of Christ.  What do we need to keep us fed?  What do we need to satisfy the hungers?  We’re going to bring inactive Catholics back to the fold…invite them into a warm setting where they can feel welcomed…thirsting and hungry for the Word of God and the sacramental life of the Church in their lives.  We’re going to be stronger in our own faith and we’re going to witness that faith to a greater extent to the members of our families, to our neighborhoods, to our offices…wherever we go.  We’re going to feel energized and renewed in our faith.  That’s what this program is meant to do…and I will be with you and committed to it for the next three years…every step of the way…and we will do it together.

The ENVISION Program is inclusive…everyone in the parish is welcome and encouraged to take part in this process.  We want everyone to be involved!  The parish that is alive and is life-giving is a parish that is planning its future…and that’s what we are doing in the next three years.

We will report to you, a complete analysis of the Questionnaire, at an open meeting called “Listening Day” where you will have a chance to speak further on the goals that have been identified and the issues that we think are important, based on the data from our Questionnaires.  We will then have a “Discernment Day” to select the goals that we will be committed to and we pledge to accomplish during the next three years, ending in 2010. 

There is a Communication Committee of this Planning Team whose responsibility it is to keep you informed about the process, what the Planning Team is doing, and what activities are coming next.  For the past few weeks, there have been tan-colored inserts in our weekly bulletins about the ENVISION Program, each covering a different area of the planning process.  This information will continue to be inserted for a total of seven weeks.  Please read each insert and become informed.  As soon as you see that tan-colored insert, we want you to say, “Hmm… ENVISION… I have to read it.  I’ve got to know what’s going on.” 

That’s what I’m asking you to do over the next few weeks…to keep your eyes and your ears open…and pray.  Pray for this….  Pray for the openness that we need to have in order to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us.  Pray.

And finally, I would ask you then to consider…where do you stand in regard to your faith?  Do you want to learn more?  Do you want to know more?  Do you want to be able to do more?  When the 72 disciples returned from evangelizing, they came back rejoicing…they were so excited!  They were so enthusiastic about what they had experienced in their ministry!  Enthusiasm for our faith is absolutely necessary for Evangelization…and for us to be serious about being a part of the Mission of the Church.

God love you and God bless you.  Amen.

        “Go, therefore, and make disciples

        of all nations…”

        (Mt 28:19)