One of the topics that recently came up in our Genesis Compass program was the obstacles to true evangelisation in a parish, and they are called “anti-evangelistic thorns”. As I go through them, see if one or more of these are challenges for you, and that then is an area which you are called to grow in. They are:
- A distorted understanding of what evangelisation is
- Fear
- The parish priest does not have the gift of evangelisation
- Preference for and comfort in catechesis
- Busyness
Evangelisation is speaking to people about Jesus and helping them come to a personal relationship with him. While we are called to have attractive liturgies, meaningful homilies, a welcoming community and service to the poor, none of those in themselves is evangelisation. If we think that evangelisation is everything that we do, we will not focus on the reality of evangelisation because everything else is easier than the work of evangelisation.
We can respond to the obligation of evangelisation with fear because it takes us out of our comfort zone, we think that we do not have the necessary competencies, we wonder what people will think of us. We forget that evangelisation is simply us sharing our joy with others, of speaking about what we have personally experienced.
Not every parish priest is equipped for the work of evangelisation. Some are more naturally focused on teaching or pastoring to those already part of the flock and are not as good at “fishing for souls”. What is important is that he work out of a team and surrounds himself with people who are good at what he lacks. The mission is a collective one just as much as it is individual.
We can prioritise to the detriment of other things our catechetical or faith formation programs. We tend to think that if we have provided head knowledge, people’s hearts will follow. But think of how many people we form for receiving the sacraments, and of that number how many have fallen in love with Jesus? It the reverse. We must labour to create spaces for people to come to know Jesus as the living and loving Lord, awakentheir hunger, and then form them for missionary discipleship.
The final thorn is busyness. We can be so busy with the work of maintaining the physical plant, raising funds, putting on programs that we fail to consider whether the input is producing the output that we desire… missionary disciples. Sometimes doing “nothing” is the most productive thing we can do if we use that time to reflect, evaluate, plan and strategise.
