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F e a t u r e A r t i c l e
Go Ye Therefore and Teach
The Catholic Commission to Evangelize
By Russell L. Ford
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This Rock
Volume 13, Number 4
 April 2002 
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Have you ever noticed that a number of things associated with our holy and ancient faith come threes? For example, the three Persons of the Trinity: one and the same God in three divine persons; God the Father; God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The number three also applies to the process of evangelization. Before I explain that, though, let’s think for a moment of our obligations along those lines.
There are certain things in Scripture that Christ addressed solely to the apostles, thus intended by him to be passed down to us through the priesthood. Examples of such things are the Eucharist at the first Mass on Holy Thursday night and the institution of the sacrament of penance on the first Easter Sunday night in the upper room.
Many other things Christ said were directed to both his apostles and his disciples (i.e., all of us). Take, for example, the Sermon the Mount: In it, Jesus commanded us to "be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect " (Matt. 5:48). This is not a suggestion. It’s a command—to be as perfect as God. In other words, it is a command for the perfection of sainthood, with God’s help.
The New Testament verse known by all apologists is 1 Peter 3:15: "Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence." In other words, not all are called to be evangelists, but all are called to evangelize. The duty of evangelization is not left up to bishops, priests, deacons, and religious alone. (If you don’t believe that now, you will at the time of your particular judgment!)
Now we can note that the number three applies also when we look at evangelization. The three necessary elements to evangelization are prayer, study, and action.
Prayer
While formulaic prayers—such as the rosary and morning offering—are good and necessary in our daily pilgrimage, our prayer life must go much deeper than that. When the Church recommends formulated prayers to us, it is recommending what is minimally necessary for our spiritual life. In order to become a saint, as we are all commanded to do, we must make prayer a loving communication with Christ, a union of human heart and soul with the Creator. This should include meditation, contemplation of divine infinity, and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
I highly recommend three books on this subject: The Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay (Ignatius), The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross (Institute for Carmelite Studies [ICS]), and The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila (ICS). And although I will go into greater detail regarding the other two elements of evangelization, I put prayer first because it is by far the most important part. Without a deep prayer life, all your study and action run the risk of being intellectual sound and fury, signifying nothing spiritual.
Study
The element of study is vital, and not only for the intellectually lazy. To perform any sort of evangelization we must study catechetics, apologetics, Church history, and human nature. (Whether we realize it or not, we are all students of human nature, so experience will teach us how to best utilize our understanding of it when evangelizing.)
Studying catechetics is vital. You cannot share the faith with others if you are not proficient in the Church’s teachings. Since I’ve heard it from so many other Catholics over the years, I can hear what some are thinking now: "I know what the Church teaches. Hey, I’m Catholic, ain’t I? Why do I need to study catechetics?" If you thought something along these lines, you demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Many times when Catholics leave the Church for Fundamentalist sects one of their major excuses is that Catholicism failed to meet their emotional needs. That is proof that they did not understand the faith. The Catholicism of Pope John Paul II, of the Fathers and doctors of the Church, of the saints, is the most exciting experience anyone can imagine. If you truly understand the faith and spend time contemplating its depths, you simply cannot help but be excited.
Fundamentalism meets emotional needs but does little for the intellect. Understood Catholicism satisfies both the emotional and the intellectual. Although I have been an evangelist for nearly a decade and a half since my conversion, I am still a student of the Catechism. I read and study all the time. With each new book and each hour spent in contemplation of the depths of our faith, I discover new aspects that excite me. You will experience that same excitement if you will spend less time with the television and more time with books in front of you.
You also need to study apologetics. As you do so you will find yourself saying, "Oh, yeah! Now that teaching makes perfect sense to me!"
By vocation I am an evangelist and writer. By avocation I am a woodworker and carver. As one who fashions wood, I tend to see wood differently than other people. When most people look at a board they usually do not even know its species. They may think it has a pretty color, but most folks cannot tell a piece of walnut from a piece of mahogany.
When I look at a piece of wood I see a whole new world. My eyes take in its color and intricate grain pattern. My nose takes in its fragrance. My fingers linger over its texture. My mind sees the clock, jewelry box, humidor, or decorative wall carving my hands and tools will fashion from it.
Apologetics is much the same as woodworking. Just as the color, texture, and grain pattern tell me how to fashion the wood and turn it into a thing of beauty, so too does apologetics show me how each little aspect of the faith comes together to make the whole of our reasonable and logical faith. When I have finished a jewelry box or wall carving, the wood seems to cry out to the observer to be touched, experienced, and enjoyed. Apologetics invites the Catholic, catechumen, or inquirer to reach out and touch, experience, and enjoy the faith.
Working with a board helps me understand the characteristics of the species of wood I am working with in particular and of wood in general. Apologetics helps us to understand both the particular subject we are studying and more deeply grasp the faith as a whole. A piece of wood by itself is unexceptional, but when my hands and tools have turned it into something people can enjoy, it is exciting. Catholics who think Catholicism does nothing to meet their emotional needs are looking at a block of wood. Applying apologetics, though, will turn what seems boring and mundane into exciting beauty.
You cannot have a good understanding of catechetics without apologetics, and you cannot get a good grasp on apologetics without at least a strong familiarity with Church history. How important is history? Well, fact that we have a history at all tells us a great deal about the divine characteristic of indefectability that Christ bestowed on his Church. No one single sovereign nation on the face of our planet that exists today has existed in continuity since Christ founded the Catholic Church two thousand years ago. It has outlasted every nation and government that existed when it was a mere infant. Tyrants throughout history have sworn they would destroy the Church. But today those tyrants are dust, their governments distant memories, and the Church still stands. We can learn much from her history.
Action
Study is necessary, but it must be balanced with action. Do not make the mistake of deciding you will start evangelizing when you have "learned enough." Friends, you will never learn enough. I have studied and evangelized probably since some of you were still in diapers, but I never quit learning.
True learning often comes from doing. I never really knew the Catechism until I started teaching it evangelistically. I thought I knew it, but I was wrong.
Start evangelizing now. Do your very best, and don’t worry about having all the answers. Be humble enough to admit to an inquirer or potential inquirer that you do not know an answer to his question, and then get the answer. Pick up the phone, or log on to the Internet, or contact Catholic Answers. That is why it exists—to help you in evangelizing.
Your first attempt at evangelization may be disastrous. Mine certainly was. But don’t let that daunt you. Get out there and fight for souls. That is why we are called the Church militant. Those souls desperately need what you have to give.
Russell L. Ford, a longtime contributor to This Rock, is an inmate in an Alabama prison. He is the author of The Missionary’s Catechism, available from Catholic Answers.
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