by Seth Evangelho

by Seth Evangelho

Evangelization begins with our relationships. In the early stages of faith, we often encounter Christ without even realizing it - in the friendships we have with his disciples. We are shown Christ through the humility and love of his followers, and this opens us up to the message they bear. We call this initial stage "pre-evangelization." 

In my own experience of conversion, it wasn't until I was in genuine friendships with Christians and felt accepted for who I was that my heart was opened to hearing the message of the Gospel. When I was finally ready, I realized Jesus was real, that he was truly risen, and that he loved me, personally, in spite of all I had done to hurt him. This was stage two of the process: "Evangelization proper." For the first time in my life, I really listened to the proclamation of the Gospel.

Grace flooded my heart and I was utterly converted. I found myself uncovering a new identity; I was a child of God, for real. My initial conversion to Christ had taken place. I had encountered him personally, and I believed the Gospel.

I was ready for stage three: "catechesis." Aware of his love, I had a growing hunger to know that I couldn't contain. The ins and outs of the faith became like manna from heaven, nourishing and sustaining me as my precious faith began to blossom in exciting ways. I was compelled to learn more about the One whose love I was so desperate to hold onto. 

As my knowledge grew, so too did my identity, and with it my "mission" (stage four). Eventually, I realized the mission of Christ was being extended to me. I had been given a part in the plan. For God so loved the world... that he sent all his (adopted) sons and daughters. I began to look for  opportunities to serve; and it was there, in loving my neighbor, that I started to see Christ even more fully, encountering him not just in the poor I was serving but alive in me. His love was so real in my heart, I found myself doing things and thinking things I never would have before. I found myself loving like I had never loved before. I was being sent. I was becoming a disciple. 

Where are you in the process of evangelization? In ever-deepening ways, we're always experiencing every stage. Jesus is present everywhere and at no point could we ever exhaust his love in any of these areas. As the living relationship of faith matures, we come to see his face more brightly in the faces of those we love (pre-evangelization), in the rich simplicity of the Gospel message (evangelization proper), in the depths of doctrine and theology (catechesis), and in the urgent grace of discipleship as we bring our communion with Christ into the world (mission).

How do we know where others are in the conversion process? It's always different. Everyone's relationship with Christ is unique. We begin with friendship and we're ready to provide the individual needs as they arise. But whether we're serving, helping to bring deeper understanding, proclaiming the basics of God's love, or simply nourishing friendship, we're learning to recognize Jesus, truly present in it all. Evangelization is an ever-deepening encounter with the risen Lord. We meet Jesus first in the love of others and, as the process unfolds, we find ourselves swept up and living in his mission of love.

by Seth Evangelho

Rule #2 - Those in a state of grace and striving to grow in relationship with the Lord, however, experience the opposite. The presence of the enemy is experienced as stinging and biting. "For then it is proper to the evil spirit to bite, sadden, and place obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, so that the person may not go forward," Ignatius warns. In a state of grace and faith, on the other hand, it's the Holy Spirit who consoles, strengthens, and encourages the soul to continue choosing what is right and good.

Rule # 3 - Those in a state of grace must learn to recognize consolations from the Holy Spirit: every experience of an "increase of hope, faith, and charity, and all interior joy that calls and attracts to heavenly things and to the salvation of one's soul, quieting it and giving it peace in it's Creator and Lord."

Rule # 4 - Learn to recognize times of desolation: "darkness of soul, disturbance, movement to low and earthly things, disquiet from various agitations and temptations, moving to lack of confidence, without hope, without love, finding oneself totally slothful, tepid, sad and, as if separated from God." These are times of trial. They are the moments when the devil is most aggressive with us but, when we learn to view them properly, they are the moments of the greatest grace and the most fruitful opportunities to grow in trust and faith.

Rule # 5 - Never make a life-change in time of desolation. Wait it out and stay committed to whatever you heard the Lord telling you to do in previous times of consolation.

Ignatian Discernment is a priceless weapon in the spiritual life of every Christian. Pope Francis, a devoted follower of St. Ignatius, has been encouraging us to delve more fully into the full teaching on this spirituality, and with good reason. It is a spiritual weapon par excellence. The following is a wonderfully engaging introduction to this kind of prayer and to discerning the movements of your heart (left) and, if you want a penetrating overview in more detail, here is the best I know of (right):

by Seth Evangelho

by Seth Evangelho

by Seth Evangelho

by Seth Evangelho

Sometimes I find it strange how much I agree with a pagan living five hundred years before Christ but, at least when it comes to the idea of friendship (and true community), I am in one hundred percent agreement with Aristotle. He calls "friendship" the highest of all virtues. 

Let me explain as simply as I can. Everyone wants to be happy. Therefore, he reasons, what is the secret to happiness? He arrives at virtue: the power to act correctly. For those with virtue, making the right decision is not a struggle, it comes - as it were - "naturally." It's easy to do the right thing. Without virtue, making the right decision is difficult, and we often fail. 

So, says Aristotle, the highest of all virtues must be friendship. Nobody is perfectly virtuous on their own. We all have moral weaknesses and therefore true happiness becomes an impossible goal. But where we are weak, others are strong. The friend, therefore, is the one who shares this vision of virtue (living and acting well) and is there to help you where you are weak; and leaning, of course, on your strengths where he/she is weak. Sounds like the Body of Christ to me! Friends, according to Aristotle, are an indispensable aid to the attainment of personal happiness, and that makes friendship the highest of all virtues. 

How do we know that virtue is the secret to happiness? How do we know that virtuous action is the "correct" way to live? In a society that promotes radical individualism and an utterly blind moral tolerance, we don't. This is making authentic community nearly impossible and true friendships extremely difficult. Unfortunately, without agreement on our human need for virtue, everyone's idea of happiness is given equal weight and we walk around feeling judged by everyone if we subscribe to an objective value system. We very quickly begin to feel isolated and alone, all the while in desperate need of friends to help us in our shortcomings. 

But we can know the right thing to do and when to do it! That's the virtue of prudence. Courage is a real thing, too; it's the prudent middle-ground between fear and recklessness. Without the virtue of moderation, enjoying a beer or two is no better than indulging the twelve-pack; and without justice, there's no objective reason to love our neighbor, or God, or ourselves. VIRTUE IS REAL, and Aristotle is right. We can't be happy without it. 

So we can't be walking on egg shells when we feel a friend is in the wrong. We need to love our friends (and family), and sometimes this means finding sensitive ways to draw them out of their weaknesses and sinful attachments. Of course, it begins with us. Our friends can't be walking on eggshells around us when they feel we are wrong either. This requires and openness to correction that flows from a mutual trust and a common goal. 

Lest we forget the whole point, it's good to remind ourselves of what friendship is all about from time to time, and this [should] make us more willing to receive constructive criticism and encouragement in the areas where we struggle. It's true I can't expect this disposition from all of my friends and family, but I can require it of myself. I can "lead by example" and show those around me what kind of friends I hope we can be, that I'm open to and in need of their correction (as long as they're nice about it). 

True community hinges on this kind of humility. It begins with the common ground of virtue, and from there opens to a trustful embrace of one another's fraternal correction. If we trust, we admit our faults. If we trust, we let others point out our blind spots. That's what community life is all about and, without this kind of vulnerability, there's no "common unity" to strive after. Do we have a common goal? Is virtue (taken up by the divine strength of grace) the secret? If it is, then fraternal correction is an essential attribute of any true friendship and indispensable for healthy community.

by Seth Evangelho

Faith without community is broken at best. Leading people closer to Christ, therefore, is simultaneously about leading them closer to each other. Over the next few weeks, I'd like to focus on a few (critically important) ways to foster healthy Christian community. It's important that we learn to teach these "secrets" well, and it's important that we learn to live them even better. 

Mutual Forgiveness is essential to healthy relationships and flourishing community life. Without it comes frustration, division, constant miscommunication, grudges, bitterness, awkwardness, anger, and mistrust, just to name a few forms of the broken experiences un-forgiveness creates. 

I am a sinner. You are a sinner. We live with sinners. That's just the undeniable, broken reality of things. Unfortunately, this means the question is not if you hurt me, but when - and how - you hurt me, what is my response going to be? 

How well do we understand the call to forgive? Jesus is certainly clear on the teaching in Scripture: the measure to which we show forgiveness and mercy is the measure to which we ourselves will receive it (see Luke 6:38). He stresses it even more emphatically when he teaches us to pray. He chooses to elaborate upon only one of the lines in the Lord's Prayer: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15). 

The teaching is clear, but do we have the desire? Do we really understand why forgiveness is so important? Do we understand that harboring un-forgiveness robs us of freedom? In those moments of hurt, betrayal, and wounded pride, the Christian rubber meets the road, as it were. We're faced with an intense decision to listen to Jesus' warning, or to burn bridges and to close in on ourselves. The choice is before us. As Moses put it, choose life - forgive. 

I think it's helpful to view relationships through the lens of marriage (and family life), for here we see the brokenness of human relationship in all it's vulnerable intensity. Sinners are thrust together to live a common life together, forever. (Thank God Matrimony is a Sacrament, for how could we truly keep the vows we profess without the grace of divine life and strength?!) We enter into a covenant relationship with people we know will never be able to fully keep their end of the bargain, and knowing full well that neither will we. This doesn't, of course, justify our sinfulness, but it does make the mutual resolve to forgive a foundational characteristic of our most intimate relationships. 

Mutual forgiveness is the secret to living out our vocation to love. Some people think they need to wait until they're perfect to get married. But that's silly. The whole point of the vocation is that, through it, we grow in perfection, in holiness. We learn to love. And loving a sinner (i.e. the person we marry) means learning to show mercy, to forgive. When spouses do this, they're drawn out of their sinfulness and they mutually call each other to a deeper, more perfect love. With both parties are on board, a beautiful (Christ-like) love begins to blossom.

It's easy to see this need in a marriage, but this kind of merciful love is called for in all Christian relationships. Where do you harbor un-forgiveness? (If you have students or children, pose this question to them often)

And no sin is too great. Forgiveness isn't just for the sinner. It means freedom for the victim. If we can't forgive, we can't love. That's why Jesus says to forgive not seven times, but "seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:22), a symbol of infinite mercy and unconditional love. He desires this freedom for us.

If we can't, or if we're unwilling, we're stifled in our desire to love and to be loved. Created in the image of love, our deepest freedom is found in our capacity to forgive those who have hurt us, no matter how difficult it is. If we can't, or when we refuse, we're no longer free. 

Forgiveness is mercy. It's underserved. Our inclination is justice, not mercy - it just seems right on the surface. People should get what they have coming to them. It's just (and right) to be angry when someone hurts us. It really is! But "mercy triumphs over judgment"(James 2:13). Only forgiveness and mercy have the power to convert hearts and call people out of their sinfulness. Only forgiveness and mercy set us free to love in a world of sinners. Mutual forgiveness is an essential ingredient to a flourishing community this side of heaven. Only in humility can we lay down our hurt; only in Christ do we have the power to fully offer our hearts in forgiveness. 

by Seth Evangelho

The more we understand what God was doing in the life of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and all the great figures of the Old Testament, the more effectively his Word will begin to live in our own personal histories. As we learn to interpret our own lives through the people and events of Scripture, we come to see more clearly the Lord alive and working in our midst. As we come to understand salvation history as a single story, as our story, we come to understand more powerfully our place not just in history but in the Father's heart, and in the great family of God we call Church.

For an entertaining overview of salvation history, complete with endearing stick-figure depictions of the biggest events (which, by the way, we're given full permission to use in our own teaching settings), get your hands on this book by Dr. John Bergsma:
Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History

If you'd like to go a bit deeper in your vision of salvation history, Dr. Scott Hahn presents a riveting vision and exploration of God's actions in Scripture:
A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God's Covenant Love in Scripture

Finally, for a more scholarly (but poetic) approach, I recommend this beautiful synthesis of the Old and New Testaments by Fr. Aidan Nichols:
Lovely, Like Jerusalem: The Fulfillment of the Old Testament in Christ and the Church

There are other great resources out there as well. The point is to grow deeper, and to learn how to more effectively pass your understanding on to the next generations. In Christ we are a family, and our story is the greatest the world has ever known. May we learn to tell it with passion and confidence.