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EVANGELIZATION DEMANDS THE EXPLICIT PROCLAMATION OF JESUS AS THE LORD AND SAVIOUR WIT - stephenkhoo - 05-13-2015 10:09 AM
EVANGELIZATION DEMANDS THE EXPLICIT PROCLAMATION OF JESUS AS THE LORD AND SAVIOUR WITH THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 17:15, 22-18:1; JN 16: 12-15
The scripture readings of today are very instructive for us Christians in the work of evangelization. This is particularly so when we speak so much about inter-religious dialogue and respect for other religions. As a consequence, Christians have become diffident or even indifferent in proclaiming the centrality of Christian faith, namely, that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of the world. Reduction of the identity and person of Christ to one of the great prophets or teachers would be shortchanging our listeners. How then does one go about this work of proclamation of Christ as the Saviour of humanity?
Firstly, we cannot but be amazed at St Paul’s ability and sensitivity to speak to such a diverse crowd in his missionary journeys. He could communicate to both the peasants and the educated class. Long before the Church spoke of the need for inculturation, St Paul was able to incarnate the message of the gospel according to the needs and mentality of the people without compromising the centrality of Christian faith, namely, that Jesus is Lord.
In the case of the highly cultural and sophisticated intellectuals of the people of Athens, St Paul employed the use of reason to help them to come to faith in Christ as the Saviour of humankind. Positively, he began by acknowledging, recognizing and praising them for their love and worship of the Supreme God even though unknown to them. He then drew the conclusion that since God is the creator of all things that exist; He does not “make his home in shrines made by human hands. Nor is he dependent on anything that human hands can do for him.”
On the contrary, this God, although so great and omnipotent, chose to live in us. Indeed, “he is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live, and move, and exist, as indeed some of your own writers have said: ‘We are all his children.’” And because He lives in us, He Himself has appointed the man, Jesus to be His Judge and the Savior of the world. Jesus as the personal representative of God is proven by His passion, death and resurrection. As Jesus declared, “Everything the Father has is mine.”
Indeed, the centrality of the Christian faith is the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Why is this so important? Because the truth of the Christian Faith stands or falls with this proclamation! If He is Lord, then we must therefore take His life and all His teachings seriously.
His death and resurrection also means that this is the way to salvation. His death reveals to us the consequences of sin, selfishness and pride. But the resurrection also reveals to us that God has the last word and that He can overcome death and suffering. Most of all, in His death and resurrection, God is revealed as unconditional love and forgiveness. It is this experience of the unimaginable love of God in Christ Jesus that will change us because of the love we have received from Him.
However, this fundamental proclamation that Jesus is risen and therefore Lord is also the greatest scandal and difficulty for unbelievers. They can accept that Jesus was a good man or a good teacher, but not the Lord. It is absurd and against logic to believe that God could become man and worse still, to be crucified and be raised! Hence, it was not surprising that when Paul reached the heart of his proclamation, he received half-hearted and a negative response to his teaching. Indeed already, “At this mention of rising from the dead, some of them burst out laughing; others said, ‘We would like to hear you talk about this again … but there were some who attached themselves to him and became believers.”
Apparently, therefore he met with little success. The most polite response was that they would think about it. Others actually made fun of his teaching. Nevertheless, a few did respond positively. All in all, it could be said to be a failure as most were not convinced. Perhaps for this reason, we read that “after this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.”
Why was it so difficult for them to believe that the Lord is risen? The truth is that believe in the resurrection of the Lord requires faith. Reason can only supply the foundations for faith. But reason cannot be substituted for faith. Reason at most can help us to recognize that God exists, but the inner life of God is only known through revelation. Thus, the resurrection cannot be proven but must be received by faith in the testimonies of those who have seen Him and through the help of the Holy Spirit.
The gospel tells us that without the grace of faith from the Holy Spirit, we cannot hear the interior words of Jesus. The Holy Spirit enlightens our hearts and opens our ears to accept Jesus and to confess Him as the Lord. This is because He is the Spirit who leads us to the complete truth, since “he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come.”
For this reason, Jesus in today’s gospel prepares His disciples to receive the Holy Spirit. There were things He said to His disciples which they also could not understand or accept. He said to them, “I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now.” Jesus knew better that without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to comprehend heavenly things. Only the Holy Spirit who comes to glorify Jesus and make known Jesus to us can reveal to us who Jesus is. Yes, the Holy Spirit does not come to reveal himself but to reveal Jesus “since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine.”
Tomorrow we will celebrate the feast of Ascension where Jesus enters into His glory. On account of His exaltation and restoration to share in His Father’s glory, He will send us the Holy Spirit to empower us in the work of evangelization. Appropriately, after the Ascension, the Church invites us to have a Novena to the Holy Spirit so that we can prepare for the fullness of His coming at Pentecost.
Yes, we must never think that the work of evangelization is simply our human effort. We must not think that the success of our proclamation is simply the result of hard work, great and scholarly ideas, eloquent preaching and strategy. Nay, notwithstanding all these, it is the work of God, not the work of man. If God does not grace our listeners and if the Holy Spirit does not enlighten them, they would not be able to come to faith. That is why we must pray as much as we preach or work.
Indeed, the Holy Father in his address to the Pontifical Mission Societies underscores that “The real missionary is the saint and the world needs saintly missionaries.” It is prayer and holiness of the missionary that will convert the hearts of people. He said, “The secret to a true and efficacious evangelization is in the search for holiness. The Church and the world need credible witnesses of love for God and a life of holiness. It is in the contemplation of Christ’s face that we are filled with an irrepressible passion to preach Him and give Him to others and recognize Him in the face of the poor and suffering. Only if one is led by the Spirit, can he truly experience the depth of Christ’s love, the source of the fruitfulness of the mission and testimony that should fill the Church and the world with the aroma of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 2:14-15).”
Let us work with all our might but depend totally on His Spirit to bring about the conversion of hearts.