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Q. I understand that, as Catholics, we are called to be missionary disciples, and it’s not necessarily as difficult as I often imagine it to be. But can you provide an example of evangelization?
Given that we just finished a short series of columns on difficulties we often face when trying to share our faith with others, this is a particularly relevant question. Fortunately, we are blessed to live in a time in which there are countless men and women—lay, religious and ordained alike—who provide rich examples of sharing our faith in Jesus Christ with others. Here, I’m going to use an example from one of the great evangelists of our time: St. John Paul II.
Although he passed away 20 years ago this month, John Paul II’s legacy remains for many people, both those who lived during his pontificate and were inspired by him, but also those who did not know him then but have come to love him since. Personally, I am happy to count myself among those many people whose faith was profoundly shaped by the Polish pope.
Now, to an example of how he evangelized others. While I’ve read many of his writings, just a few months ago I came across an address I’d never read, but it serves as a perfect example of evangelization.
In September 2001, John Paul II made a pastoral visit to the central Asian country of Kazakhstan, a country that had regained its independence from the former Soviet Union just 10 years prior. As part of that visit—and like so many other pastoral visits he made over the course of his long pontificate—John Paul II had a meeting with young adults at one of the country’s new universities.
At this event, John Paul II gave a short address, the text of which is available online (just do an internet search for “pastoral visit in kazakhstan” and “meeting with young people” and “John Paul II” and you’ll find it).
In this meeting with hundreds of young adults, John Paul II wondered what they would like to hear from him:
“In preparing this visit, I asked myself what the young people of Kazakhstan would want to hear from the Pope of Rome and what would they like to ask him. My experience of young people tells me that they are interested in the basic questions. Probably the first question you would want to put to me is this: “Who am I, Pope John Paul II, according to the Gospel that you proclaim? What is the meaning of my life? Where am I going?” My answer, dear young people, is simple but hugely significant: You are a thought of God, you are a heart-beat of God. To say this is like saying that you have a value which in a sense is infinite, that you matter to God in your completely unique individuality.”
Note the pope’s method: Based on his extensive pastoral experience, he has an idea of the sort of thing these young Kazakhs would want to hear from him, which would become a way to evangelize them. It’s important to note that this nation was (and is) predominantly Muslim, with only about a quarter of the population being Christian, and just one to two percent of them being specifically Catholic.
So, he begins by speaking of the questions many young adults have: Questions about the meaning of life, of our origins and our destiny. Then he offers the Christian response: We each matter to God.
Later in his brief address, he makes this response explicit:
“The Pope of Rome has come to say this to you: there is a God who has thought of you and given you life. He loves you personally and he entrusts the world to you. It is he who stirs in you the thirst for freedom and the desire for knowledge. Allow me to profess before you with humility and pride the faith of Christians: Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God made man two thousand years ago, came to reveal to us this truth through his person and his teaching. Only in the encounter with him, the Word made flesh, do we find the fullness of self-realization and happiness. Religion itself, without the experience of wondrous discovery of the Son of God and communion with him who became our brother, becomes a mere set of principles which are increasingly difficult to understand, and rules which are increasingly hard to accept.”
Note his appeal: True religion isn’t merely a set of principles or hard to accept rules; rather, it is an experience of wondrous discovery of Jesus Christ and a real relationship with him. He invited those young people into a real relationship with real meaning, which is the heart of evangelization: offering Jesus to those around us.
There’s much more of this address that demonstrates John Paul II’s incredible gifts as an evangelist. I encourage you to read the entire thing and seek his intercession as you seek to grow as a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ.
