Evangelization. According to the dictionary, it means preaching the Gospel. The word preach, according to the dictionary, means to proclaim; and the word Gospel means the life of Jesus Christ and also the four Gospels of the New Testament.
So, if I were to define evangelization according to the dictionary, in order for me to be an evangelizer it would be this:
Bring Jesus into everything I do. Now admittedly this is how I am defining it. I want a definition that is easy to understand, easy to do, and easy to relate to others.
If you are with me so far, what my definition implies is that I have a relationship with Jesus and that I am growing in that relationship—and that relationship is bringing peace and joy to me. As they say, you cannot give what you do not have.
It also implies that I know the Gospels and I am living them out in my life. And lastly, it implies that I am doing this for others. If this sounds like Piety (orienting myself to Jesus), Study (learning about Jesus), and Action (giving Jesus to others), well, you can see that our Cursillo Movement really is about evangelization.
Now I want to end on two ideas regarding evangelization.
The first is that evangelization starts with me. It does not start outside of me. I have to evangelize myself before I can evangelize others.
The second is about huge, almost seemingly impossible projects. It is often asked, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer: one bite at a time.
This huge, seemingly impossible idea of evangelizing the world by bringing Jesus into it boils down to this: it starts with me, working where I am, doing what I can. And the kicker is, the results are not up to me… they are up to the Holy Spirit.
Our job is to put on Jesus Christ. That is all we have to do to be qualified to evangelize. The world desperately needs us.
De Colores!
Tommy Smith
Lay Coordinator / South Carolina Catholic Cursillo