Catholic Pastoral Center
2300 S. 9th Street, Lafayette, IN 47909
765-269-4650 / Fax: 765-269-4651
2300 S. 9th Street, Lafayette, IN 47909
765-269-4650 / Fax: 765-269-4651
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February 12, 2014In the General Directory for Catechesis we read that, “The Church exists in order to evangelize, that is the carrying forth of the Good News to every sector of the human race so that by its strength it may enter into the hearts of men and renew the human race.” (#46) The task of evangelization can be further discerned in reading the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life – proclaiming the Good News, witnessing, teaching, instituting the sacraments, and loving His neighbor.
If the work of the Jesus Christ, the Church, and our Bishops is evangelization then it should follow that evangelization is the work of every Catholic. This does not necessarily mean that we have to go door to door spreading the Good News, but it does mean that we must witness our faith by the way we live our daily lives. We are called to show what we believe by how we put our faith into practice in our family life, our workplace, and in our dealings with our neighbor.
The season of Advent is almost here and with its approach we are reminded of Christ’s first coming to us and to prepare for Christ’s second coming at the end of time. During this season we should make a concentrated effort to evangelize by inserting the Gospel into our culture. I think the challenge of evangelizing our culture calls us to affirm what is compatible to the Gospel and to dispute what is incompatible. In this time of conspicuous consumption and individualistic mentality it is indeed a challenge!
Evangelization endeavors to change the interior life of individuals and to transform society. I believe that Advent can be an ideal time for us to focus on changing our interior lives through prayer and the sacramental life, while working on transforming the world we live in through the practice of social justice. Jesus calls us to ‘go and make disciples’ and this is the task of evangelization that we can undertake during the season of Advent to advance the mission of the Church.
Pray and discern, how is God calling you to step up and evangelize this coming Advent Season? Please share your ideas and goals with us.
Please add your comments and let's start a conversation.
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