Bishop encourages evangelization, proclaim God's name

October 19, 2006

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE EVANGELIZERS

There is a so-called "politically correct" idea that inviting people to experience the riches of our Catholic faith with us may somehow be offensive to them: that evangelization and missionary work is contrary to human dignity. Some people think it is not right to share what we believe in a passionate way. I think this is a very false idea, based on a very damaging model of what human dignity consists in. And I think the fact that World Mission Sunday occurs within Respect Life Month should make us rethink our reluctance to share our faith with others.

Certainly, it is wrong to force someone else to share or believe in our faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ never forced anyone else to follow him. The Church has always known that forced conversion is not really a true conversion. As early as the second century, the first serious Latin-speaking theologian, Tertullian of Carthage, argued precisely this when Roman authorities in his city tried to force Christians to revert to pagan worship. And the Second Vatican Council returned to this same point when it insisted on freedom of religion as a basic human right.

But this is not to deny the truth of our Catholic Faith, or to imply some kind of moral relativism in religion. Truth can only be true if it is ultimately one; God can only be God if He is ultimately one. Freedom of religion is a basic human right, but access to truth is equally a human right. And our Catholic faith, we hold and believe, contains the "fullness of truth" revealed in the Incarnation, life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

An obligation to share

We have, then, an obligation to share our faith with others, not aggressively or forcefully, but loving, invitingly, just as Christ himself invited and cajoled and convinced by loving actions so many others to follow him. From our very baptism, the core moment of our faith, in which we die and rise with Christ, made totally new and pure, we are compelled to proclaim the glory of Christ's salvation offered to all people. If we truly believe what the Church teaches about the universal and unique salvation in Christ Jesus, how can we not, in love for our brothers and sisters, invite them to share the invaluable gift of grace we have been privileged to live? If we hide our faith, it could be from shame and from fear, not out of respect for another. It could also be that we feel inadequate or unprepared. If so we have an obligation to learn more about our faith and the beautiful beliefs of our Church.

In his message for World Mission Sunday, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI writes, "Unless the mission is oriented by charity, that is, unless it springs from a profound act of divine love, it risks being reduced to mere philanthropic and social activity. In fact, God's love for every person constitutes the heart of the experience and proclamation of the Gospel, and those who welcome it in turn becomes its witnesses. God's love, which gives life to the world, is the love that was given to us in Jesus, the Word of Salvation, perfect icon of the Heavenly Father's mercy."

To love another person with Christ-like love is to recognize the inalienable dignity of that person; to respond to that inherent dignity with actions that conform to it; and to do so consistently, not only for one person, but for all. That inherent and inalienable dignity and value comes from God who creates each person in his own "image and likeness." It does not derive from rank, wealth, age, status, power, laws, abilities, or achievements. We do not confer dignity; God confers dignity. We act in ways that are either consistent with that dignity, or that contradict it; and we reap what we sow in our actions.

At root, then, love and truth are the same. Both are consistent with human dignity. Individualism, selfishness, moral relativism, passivity: these are contrary to the dignity of each person, because they proclaim in their actions, "I don't care whether you love God or not: whether you experience God's love or not. You have little worth to me that I just don't care." If we truly love another, we want to share with them the truth, especially the truth of Jesus and our faith in Him.

Jesus Christ, the "perfect icon of the Heavenly Father's mercy," did not hang on the Cross, whipped and bleeding, derided and abandoned, so that I can refuse to care about my neighbor. He did not die and lie three days in the tomb so that I can exploit my neighbor. He did not rise from the dead so that I can live at the expense of my neighbor.

When people refuse to share their faith in inviting and loving ways, they turn their back on those who look to them as examples. How, then, should we share our faith so that we can demonstrate love and respect for all?

Focus on your spiritual life

First and foremost, Jesus calls us to live holy lives, worthy of the baptism in his blood by which we call ourselves Christians, his followers. He calls us to reject sin and the glamour of sin, and all the works of the devil. Our first responsibility is the health of our own spiritual lives. The struggle against sin never ends in this life; none of us become perfect. But none of us can remain uniquely concerned with our own spiritual disposition. Equally with our own souls, we are responsible for those of others, especially in our immediate families. I am mot my brother's keeper; but I am my brother's brother, and I cannot fail to be less attentive to my brother's or sister's spiritual needs than to their physical needs. So my love for my immediate family members must also include both humble fraternal correction, and (even more important) the willingness to accept their corrections of me.

Outside our families, in the civil and church communities we belong to, the quiet example of the godly life is the most compelling form of evangelization. This is the most important roll for the laity in our Church. But we must be willing to give testimony to the faith as well, when we are asked or when the opportunity suggests, because the world needs to know what kind of life (namely, Christian) our example is suppose to be. We don't attempt to imitate Christ's perfection and sinlessness on own initiative; it is the grace of God's love, beginning with our baptism into Christ's death and resurrection that compels us. People who don't know Christ need to know Him in us, in person and by name; that is why we bear His name, and are called "Christians."

In the early Church, Roman law made it a capital crime to bear the name of Christ publicly. A Christian could be executed for no other crime than saying in public, " I am a Christian." Many, many Christians accepted this fate willingly, because they knew and believed in the power of Christ from the Cross to transform death into life, and because, in Christ's love, they loved their fellows enough to die for them.

Proclaim his name

In our present day and age, it is not a crime to bear the name of Christ openly. But there are certainly factions in our society who claim that is should be. Be proud of your faith! Be proud of your baptism in grace! Proclaim it soundly, in works of pious mercy and charity, and if you are asked, say with joy that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Teacher, and you His humble follower. In this way we can teach the world what human dignity truly means, and how to protect it in justice and truth. In this way you are also a missionary in the truest sense of the world. As we pray and respond to the needs of missionaries in other parts of the world, let us not forget the roll we plan in our own families and communities.

I daily ask God our generous Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to pour out His many blessings upon each of you; may you be blessed especially with strong and fearless faith!

Your brother in Christ,

Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless Bishop of Sioux City

P.S. Someone must be praying for the Denver Broncos besides me! I know they appreciate your support and I am pleased to know, as I meet other Bronco fans, I am not alone in Iowa