The Holy Spirit - the Evangelizer
By Father Brendan Williams
Pentecost '95 - We are now half way through the Decade of Evangelization
and it is naturally a time for us to evaluate what has been achieved
through the first half and set goals for these final five years. For
me, the emergence of an awareness
among the laity of their exalted role in evangelization by reason of
their Baptism,
is one of the most exciting developments of our time. I venture to say
that when this awareness becomes universally accepted and lived we will
see an extraordinary explosion in our Church and the possibility of
preaching the Gospel to every person on the face of the earth will become
a virtual reality.
The Second Vatican Council has paved the way for empowering the laity in the mission of the Church. The Council Fathers went out of their way to redefine the nature and role of the baptized. It was the first Council to speak of the priesthood of the laity. In fact it used the term "priesthood" exclusively in reference to the baptized. To define the ministerial priesthood it used the term presbyterate. This showed that it was returning to biblical roots to reestablish the true role of the laity in the mission of the Church. In the New Testament there are only four references to priesthood and they all refer to the common priesthood of the baptized - 1 Peter 2:5,9, Rev. 1:5-6, 5:9-10, 20:6.
In Lumen Gentium the Council Fathers tell us that all the baptized
share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ and they go on to say that,
"The faithful
join in the offering of the Eucharist by virtue of their royal priesthood"
and exercise that priesthood, "by the witness of a holy life, and
by self denial and acts of charity." (|tI(Lumen Gentium 10:2))
The Council develops this common priesthood further in the context
of evangelization in the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity. In
paragraph 3 it states, "From the fact of their union with Christ
the head, flows the laymen's right and duty to be apostles. Inserted
as they are into
the Mystical Body of Christ by baptism and strengthened by the power
of the Holy Spirit in confirmation, it is by the Lord himself that they
are assigned to the apostolate. If they are consecrated a kingly priesthood
and a holy nation (cf. 1 Pet. 2:4-10), it is in order that they may
in all their actions offer spiritual sacrifices and bear witness to
Christ all the world over."
Clearly then the laity receive their call from Baptism to be evangelists
and missionaries for the Gospel. This reality is beginning to take shape
in our Church today with many excellent lay men and women responding
to their baptismal vocation and using their wonderful gifts for the
spread of the
Kingdom. It would be an exaggeration to think that using our gifts means
always entering into a specialized ministry. The fact is that the vast
majority of our empowered Catholics will continue in their regular jobs
or professions but will find ample opportunities to give witness by
holy lives
and by sharing their faith story whenever the occasion arises. My own
experience in the various elements of renewal convinces me that our
greatest pastoral efforts today should be directed to empowering our
laity in their
baptismal mission and offering them every opportunity to use their God-given
gifts to enrich the Church and spread the Gospel.
Is there an inherent danger then that by emphasizing the common priesthood
we will de-emphasize or obscure the presbyterate? Theoretically that
could happen. But it has not been my experience thus far; in fact the
opposite is the case on two counts. For me, renewal in the Holy Spirit
and the discovery of the riches of my baptismal gifts has only enhanced
and enriched my presbyteral charisms. On the other hand, I have discovered
that people who have experienced this spiritual rebirth in their lives,
have been the most affirming of my ministry and have been very effective
in convincing me of the special place the presbyterate has in the economy
of the Church's
life. The reality is: the more we call forth the gifts of Baptism, the
more precious and effective the gift of Ordination becomes.
At the heart of the mission of the Church, then, is the Holy Spirit.
This Reality cannot be overemphasized. Let us hear what Pope Paul VI
says in Evangelii Nuntiandi, the Decree on Evangelization in the Modern
World.: "Evangelization will never be possible without the action
of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit descends on Jesus of Nazareth at the
moment of His baptism when the voice of the Father, "This is my
beloved Son with whom I am well pleased," manifests in an external
way the election of Jesus and His
mission....It is in the power of the Spirit that He returns to Galilee
and begins His preaching at Nazareth, applying to Himself the passage
of Isaiah: `The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.' And he proclaims: `Today
this Scripture has been fulfilled'. To the disciples whom He was about
to send forth He says, breathing on them, "Receive the Holy Spirit"...
"It is in "the consolation of the Holy Spirit" that the Church increases. The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church. It is He who explains to the faithful the deep meaning of the teaching of Jesus and of His mystery. It is the Holy Spirit who, today just as at the beginning of the Church, acts in every evangelizer who allows himself to be possessed and led by Him. The Holy Spirit places on his lips the words which he could not find by himself, and at the same time the Holy Spirit predisposes the soul of the hearer to be open and receptive to the Good News and to the kingdom being proclaimed.
"Techniques of evangelization are good, but even the most advanced ones could not replace the gentle action of the Spirit... It must be said that the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of evangelization; it is He who impels each individual to proclaim the Gospel, and it is He who in the depths of consciences causes the word of salvation to be understood." (Par. 75)
What a powerful statement this is of the place of the Holy Spirit in
the life and mission of the Church! He is our life; He is our strength;
He is our
inspiration; he is our success in every endeavor; He empowers our speech
and he opens our ears to understanding; He releases our gifts and he
prepares the groundwork for their use. Our whole being then should be
immersed in the Holy Spirit. Our eternal prayer should be: "Come,
O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful. Enkindle in them the
fire of your love."
If the Holy Spirit has such an important place in the life and mission
of the Church, is this message getting through? For many it is. Today
we are seeing
people literally being transformed by the Holy Spirit and empowered
to pursue ministries that were unthinkable for laity but a few decades
ago. Many of the evangelists coming our way are laymen who have experienced
life-changing conversions, have been baptized in the Holy Spirit and
are now powerful
teachers and witnesses of the Gospel. A good example are the four men
who teach and witness in our School of Evangelization. They are men
who have been very successful in the world, did an about turn and are
now using their
great talents to spread the Good News. As with the Apostles, they are
witnesses of God's extraordinary power, changing their lives and compelling
them to spend the rest of their lives in the service of the Lord. They
are the fruit of
Vatican Council II which called them forth, recognized their baptismal
gifts and empowered them in the Holy Spirit. Is it any wonder then that
their message is so powerful and deeply touching for all who hear it?
I am firmly convinced that recognizing the place of the Holy Spirit in the Church and opening our hearts and minds to His transforming love, is the most crucial and defining direction for the People of God today. Yet there are examples in the Church where it seems that this priority is not at the heart of the evangelical thrust. Take the situation in South America.
Evangelical Churches tell us that they will have 100 million converts
there by the year 2000, while our Catholic people are leaving in droves.
This is puzzling since that South American Conference of Bishops made
"the Option for the Poor" the
goal for the work of Catholic evangelization at the Medillin conference
in 1968. This option for the poor has been carried out with great zeal
by the men and women of the Church often to the point of personal danger
and loss of life. Such noble and brave witness should have attracted
the poor to the Church in great numbers but the opposite is the case.
What went wrong?
In an article in Priest Magazine (Jan. 1992) Father Orien Key, S.J.
offers us some insight. He spent eleven years in missionary work in
South America
and observed what was happening.Much of the literature stated emphatically
that
Catholic evangelizers should not even speak to the poor about religion
as long as there was poverty and social injustice. Religious practices
such as the Eucharist, processions, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament,
devotions to the saints and especially Mary, that gave comfort to the
poor in their harsh lives were now downplayed and even eliminated -
all except Sunday Mass which
became more a gathering to deal with social justice issues than a time
of worship. Meetings would not begin or end with prayer and in some
places Jesuit confreres were asked not to celebrate Mass which was seen
as an obstacle to
social justice. It seemed that the Gospel was reduced to social justice
and the betterment of the temporal order. The result was that the people
were left spiritually empty and responded with their feet.
Father Key sums up: "In the Catholic Church they found only the Social Gospel, which was set before them as the way of Christ. This Gospel left them spiritually empty. In the Evangelical Churches, as some of these converted Catholics themselves said, they found Christ. Here they read about Him from the Bible. In their worship they sang His praises. The sermons they heard spoke constantly about Him. It was only in the Evangelical Churches that they were able to find the comfort they needed for their harsh lives.... By their defections from Catholicism, the poor are showing that, in their hearts, they prefer this "word that comes from the mouth of God," above even their own social and economic betterment particularly since this Word of God is Jesus Christ, Eternal Word of God."
The tragedy of these defections in South America should make abundantly
clear to us the wisdom of the Council and Papal documents that highlight
personal and communal transformation in the Holy Spirit, who is at the
heart of Gospel and evangelical life. Our focus must be Jesus Christ,
risen from the dead and living in His People personally and communally,
liturgically and
sacramentally. Reflecting on this reality, Father Raymond Brown, eminent
biblical scholar, has this to say: "That Christ willed or founded
the Church
may be adequate theology for some; but an abstraction, focused on the
past, will not be enough to keep others loyal to a Church unless they
encounter Jesus there. They will join some small groups where they find
an encounter with Jesus, even if these are tangential to or separated
from the church." The Churches the Apostles
Left Behind: p.97)
Today, I meet from time to time such people who have joined Evangelical Churches to - in their words - be spiritually fed. This is always painful for me to hear and accept since I believe with all my heart that we have the fullness of spiritual riches in the Catholic Church if only we acknowledge it, take ownership of it and proclaim it.
Perhaps, as we celebrate Pentecost '95, we might well reflect on the documents - which many of our Separated Brethren seem to be implementing with greater fervor and force than we are - and allow them to give us a true focus for Gospel life and power once again. Not only will we bring new life to our own parishes, we will be offering the fullness of Gospel, sacramental, doctrinal and communal life to the many who are hungering and yearning for salvation.
This article may be reprinted for personal use.