The New Evangelization: Perfect for Catholics Who Already Know All That Stuff…

It’s autumn here in Michigan, and that means that the trees are wearing a vibrant palette of burnt sienna, cadmium red and yellow ochre.  The leaves are twitching, spinning in the breeze–and just one gust can send them gliding earthward, severing their connection to the branch which has nourished them through the warm summer days.

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I thought about this, watching the downward dance of leaves in the front yard.  The oak and maple leaves seem finally free, untethered; but once separated from the tree which sustained them, they’ll wither and dry.

Sometimes Catholics, it seems to me, are like those fragile leaves–happy to break free, to glide with the air currents in a doomsday plunge, joining their friends below.  They don’t realize that separating oneself from the branch which is Christ leads to certain decay and death.

Hanging by a Thread Is Like a Lukewarm Love

Dr. Scott Hahn, in his new book Evangelizing Catholics: A Mission Manual for the New Evangelization, describes the “Lukewarm Love” with which some Catholics regard the Church.  “A true understanding of the gift we have in our Catholic faith,” Hahn writes,

“…should send us to the rooftops, shouting with joy and gratitude the words of the psalmist: ‘Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he has done for me.’ (Ps. 66:16)

“The fact that we see so few Catholics shouting from the rooftops tells us that many people sitting in church on Sunday don’t know why they’re there or what’s taking place.  They’ve received the sacraments, but they’ve never encountered Jesus Christ in a meaningful and personal way.  Or the teaching given to them in the past by priests and catechists was so inadequate that they lack confidence in their knowledge and beliefs.  Either way, the result is the same:  they may have heard the call to evangelize, but it’s a call they have no intention of answering.”

So the problem is that for too many, the Catholic faith has never been understood in its life-giving richness.  In the early Church, evangelization didn’t end with Confirmation in the eighth grade; rather, it was understood as a process that involved the whole person–body, mind and spirit–and which unfolded over many years.

Yet beyond this “Evangelization for the Whole Person”, Hahn writes, there is an “Evangelization of Divine Romance”.  Here, as in marriage, there is a gradual and continuing development in relationship.  Just as a man falls more and more in love with his wife, so does the Christian fall more deeply in love with Christ, entering into a familial, covenantal relationship in which reception of the sacraments is only the beginning.

And then, Dr. Hahn adds, there is an “Evangelization That Empowers”.  Jesus, in his final words to his disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) before he ascended to the Father, gave his followers some work to do:  “Go,” he said,

“…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.”   

This is why Evangelization must be based upon the Eucharist, the “energy food” that will enable us to do the task which has been assigned.

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But here, I’ve given you only a starting point.  Scott Hahn, always a great teacher, identifies the need, then offers solutions to meet that need.  Evangelizing Catholics looks for inspiration at the first evangelists and at the early Church, then identifies concrete models and methods for evangelizing.

And Hahn proposes the content which must be included in this evangelization plan.  Not satisfied to simply accept Christ into your heart and pray the “Sinner’s Prayer”,  Hahn describes the content which effective evangelization must include:  how the evangelizer must draw his student to a deeper understanding of the nature of sin, and of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, and more.

How many of Scott Hahn’s books have I read in the past?  I can’t even count–but this one has a particular relevance to our current era.  “The New Evangelization” has a been a popular theme in the writings and thought of popes and theologians since Vatican II.  This book is a “How To”, a road map for the New Evangelization that anyone can find useful as we seek to do God’s will and bring all to Him.

In this way, Catholics won’t be simply “hanging by a thread” but will be equipped to live fully, and to enjoy a deeper friendship with Christ, ,sharing his companionship with a wide circle of friends.