‘A WORD FROM FR. BEN’: On Evangelization
The mission of evangelization is so close to my heart and something I would like to speak a little bit about here. While the word “evangelization” often raises many frightening images for many Christians, in my humble opinion, at its most basic level it is simply a call by Jesus to share the gift that we have already received from God. God has done so much for each of us in setting us free from sin (an ongoing work), renewing our hearts, walking beside us and giving us a new purpose and vision for our lives. Ultimately heaven is opened up for us and we receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit to live in us. These are a few things – just scratching the surface – of what God has done for us in our lives.
We have discovered there is a great power to change hearts in the Gospel message of hope and new life. Catholic Christians especially must be equipped in how to communicate this message to the people they know and meet each day.
To share some of my own journey of how I came to believe in this message, I had drifted away from my faith during my teenage years and early 20’s, and it was a dark and difficult time in my life. During this period, my dad began to share his faith with me. He had gone through a difficult time as well, and with his wife (my mother) dying of cancer…
In the midst of this suffering, he turned his heart back to God in a big way. Meanwhile, I was working as a carpenter-contractor, and he would take me out during lunch and coffee breaks to share with me that Jesus was real and that He wanted to have a relationship with me. This was news to me! I still had some conviction that there was a God, but He had become very distant in my life.
My dad told me that I could pray and would begin to experience God’s presence around me… I could have a friendship with Jesus… that He loved me and might have some plan for my life! I hadn’t heard those things before! I wasn’t too excited about it all at the beginning, but eventually I began to believe what he was saying and to open my heart up to God. Eventually God began to show me some of the sin in my life and invited me to step out of it and into a new place of freedom. As I began to yield my heart and will to God, he began to renew me from the inside. I made it back to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and over the next while I began to think that God might have some different call on my life. Eventually, I discovered the “Companions of the Cross” community and entered the seminary. Not to say that all people that open their hearts to Christ become priests and religious, but for me, that was His plan. The rest is history!
All these basic things that my dad spoke to me became great gifts in my life. Jesus became a great gift to me. Now, would I just keep this to myself, or would I share him with others? This is what I believe evangelization is… sharing some of the good things God has done with us to others.
The Gospel is, and is meant to be, “good news”! It’s to give new purpose and meaning, new life, and new hope. I have come to believe when we share sincerely about our relationship with Jesus with someone, and invite them to open their heart to Him, an amazing work of God will begin to occur. The Holy Spirit will start to reveal Jesus to them. Then, as long as a person welcomes Jesus into their heart, and begins to open their heart to Him, a deep conversion will begin to occur within them as they are filled with the Holy Spirit and re-created in Christ. This can take place in a moment or over a period of time, but in either case their life is completely changed.
Has Jesus made a difference in your life? Have you chosen to follow Jesus of your own volition? If so you have a testimony to share with others.
Don’t keep it to yourself. Give it away!
Some scripture quotes Fr. Bob Bedard used to quote frequently;
• “If you seek me with all your heart, I will allow you to find me.” (Jer 29:13)
• “Commit your life to the Lord. Trust in him, and he will act.” (Ps 37:5)
•“To those who accepted him, he gave power to become children of God.” (John 1:12)
• “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone will but open the door, I will come in, sit down at table and have supper with him.” (Rev 3:20)
• “Draw close to God and he will draw close to you.” (Jas 4:8)
I have come to believe when we share about our relationship with Jesus with someone sincerely, and invite them to open their heart to God, an amazing work of God will begin to occur. The Holy Spirit will begin to reveal Jesus to them as we see in these scriptures. Then, as long as a person welcomes Jesus into their heart and beings to open their heart to Him, a deep conversion will begin to occur within them as they are filled with the Holy Spirit and re-created in Christ. This can take place in a moment or over a period of time but in either case their life is completely changed.
Has Jesus made a difference in your life? Have you chosen to follow Jesus of your own volition? If so you have a testimony to share with others.
The Three Step Dynamic according to Fr. Bob Bedard
1. Proclamation of the Gospel
- Something the minister does – whether priest, religious or lay person
- Proclamation is done in such a way as to elicit a full response – embracing of Christ as Lord
- Goal is to invite people to hand their life over to the Lord.
2. Response of the hearer
- The hearer must make a conscious decision to throw his lot in with the Lord, in a proper spirit of repentance, to fully accept the Lord’s design for his life.
3. The Direct Action of God
- When the person opens their heart with a proper spirit of faith and repentance and openness to the Lordship of Christ, the Lord moves the person from within in such a way that the one who has responded to the call knows it.
Summary
- For the most part the first two steps are things we do, while the Last one is the Lord’s
- “But that’s too simple”…try it, it works! I doubted until I saw the Lord’s power myself
- Scriptures…Jer 29:13, Ps 37:5, Jn 1:12, Rev 3:20, Jas 4:8
Some great quotes from Fr. Bob Bedard’s book on Evangelization
“The gospel is something I must choose to follow… I must answer the call of the gospel with a resounding “yes”. I must embrace it with my whole being.” page 6
“Evangelization is the process, whereby a person hears the gospel, embraces it fully, makes Jesus lord of his life and gets involved in a lively, intimate ongoing relationship with him” page 6
“{The popes] have understood fully what evangelization is and have taught it with constant clarity, but we’re not doing it. This is not a put down…. As a church we are doing much good. We’re good teachers and servants. We celebrate well the mysteries of the Lord. But evangelization is not something we are very good at. With some bright and shining exceptions we just don’t know how to do it.”
“For the most part when we preach, we explain scripture and teach. We give information. We intellectualize, reflect, discuss and suggest food for thought. All these are good and commendable. But we don’t often evangelize.”
An Evangelization Workshop
To learn more about Fr. Ben’s Workshop on evangelization click here.