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The name of my column is “Everyday Evangelization” and I often think about the concept of what that means. The first place to start with is the word evangelization itself. It is somewhat misunderstood and viewed with more complexity than necessary. In my opinion, it is best to simply define it as sharing our love and joy of knowing Jesus with others. Like many things, that is easier said than done, but life in general and being a disciple wasn’t meant to be easy.

Evangelization is personal. It is most effective when put into action and driven by what is in our hearts. We must first acknowledge the pre­sence of Christ’s love before we can possibly share it with others. It equates to the old adage that you can’t give what you don’t have. If we don’t personally know Jesus, it is not possible to effectively evangelize or share that love with others.

Our mission is to be disciples of Jesus Christ in which our lives are Christ-centered. Yet, our busy world and hectic schedules create so many distractions that it can be challenging to stay focused on our life‘s purpose and mission of loving God and loving neighbor. That is why the Church exists — to evangelize. It’s easy to get frustrated when we get tied up in the minutia of the institution — bureaucracy, complacency and earthly distractions. We must maintain our focus and operate with a sense of urgency in order to best fulfill our mission.

Evangelization is all about Jesus and Jesus is love. He freely gives us love that is unconditional, never-ending, and so personal that it is the most beautiful gift we could ever receive. We are not worthy of this love, but we just need to embrace it and then put it into action. But, we may ask ourselves — how do we do that? How do we love like Christ? In my opinion, we do that one interaction at a time, regardless of the time of day. One moment at a time, especially when it is inconvenient. With one person at a time, regardless of who they are.

I like the phrase that “evangelization is simple, but it’s not easy.” I fully agree with that and we need to remember that evangelization is not about programs. It’s about people. It’s about relationships. How do we put evangelization into action? We must acknowledge the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and Christ’s love within us and allow that power to be the driving force in everything we do.

Please contact me with any questions about boosting evangelization efforts at your parish at [email protected] or by visiting https://www.rcda.org/evangelization. Follow me on Instagram: tom_rcda

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