Florida Catholic | Sunday Word

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

A conversion to Jesus Christ

May 4, 2008 :: Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph 1:17-23; Mt 28:16-20

FATHER DAVID SCOTCHIE

Before his ascension into heaven, Jesus commissioned his disciples, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19).

It was not enough for the disciples to love one another, forgive their enemies, and worship God. They had to tell others. Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to be evangelizers.

Jesus’ last words before his ascension have become known as the Great Commission. For us who have been baptized into his death and resurrection, following Christ means telling others about him.

A pamphlet from Our Sunday Visitor by Lorene Hanley Duquin summarizes church teaching on evangelization: “It is unthinkable,” Pope Paul VI wrote in his encyclical “Evangelii Nuntiand,” “that a person should accept the word and give himself to the kingdom without becoming a person who bears witness to it and proclaims it in his turn.”

Evangelization is not knocking on doors. Jesus said that evangelization was like catching fish (Luke 5:10), sowing seeds (Mark 4:1-9), lighting a lamp (Mark 4:21-25), and rejoicing over a lost coin, a lost sheep, and a prodigal son (Luke 15:1-32).

Evangelization is simply bringing the good news of Jesus into ordinary situations. When a co-worker reminisces about growing up Catholic, you can invite him to Mass. When a mother grieves the death of her son and tells you that she is down on God, you can tell her that God grieved the death of his Son, Jesus. When a friend knocks the Catholic Church, you can witness to your faith.

These are moments for evangelization. Evangelization leads us to conversion. It deepens our life in Christ.

“For the disciple of Christ the duty to evangelize is an obligation of love,” wrote Pope John Paul II. Witnessing to your faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is an act of love.

To commemorate its 40th anniversary, the Diocese of Orlando has made 2008 a “Year of Evangelization.” The Festival of Faith, expected to draw thousands of people to the Orange County Convention Center May 8-10, celebrates our faith in Christ. “The Christian faith is, above all, conversion to Jesus Christ,” states the National Directory for Catechesis. “For the Christian, this metanoia (change of life) reorients all aspects of the person’s life to Christ. This conversion is the acceptance of a personal relationship with Christ, a sincere adherence to him, and a willingness to conform one’s life to his. Conversion to Christ involves making a genuine commitment to him and a personal decision to follow him as his disciple. Through this discipleship, the believer is united to the community of disciples and appropriates the faith of the church.”

To take to prayer: Who has told you about Jesus Christ? How have you passed on the good news?

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