Spanning four states, the Snake River is an angler’s dream. With headwaters near the southern border of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the pristine waters of the Snake meander 1,080 miles through Idaho and Oregon and finally empty into the Pacific Ocean in Washington State.
Anglers from all over the country come to enjoy the unique opportunities that fishing the Snake River provides. You’ll find a diverse array of fish, eagerly waiting to challenge your angling skills: cutthroat trout, smallmouth bass, brown trout, and rainbow trout.
Fly fishing on the Snake River requires skill and finesse. One would not fish on the Snake River using deep-sea rods, weights, and baits. You’ll want to try your hand particularly using nymphs and dry flies to catch a trout or bass.
Picture yourself knee-deep in the flow of the river at Oxbow Bend, fly rod in hand, mimicking the flitting of the river’s insects, driven to make your hand-tied fly irresistible. You have all the right tackle, and you have wisely chosen your location to take advantage of the river’s complex riffles and tranquil pools. Like a military strategist, you’ve done all the necessary recon to achieve success, and you’re looking forward to the sound of the sizzling fish in your frying pan at the end of a victorious battle and a most pleasurable day.
Evangelization is a bit like fly fishing. In order to be a successful evangelist, we must also do our homework and carefully prepare. Souls may be at stake.
Among those things the Church has always preached and will never cease to preach is “there is no salvation outside the Church.” Not only did the Savior command that all nations should enter the Church, but he also decreed the Church to be a means of salvation without which no one can be saved.
Pope Paul VI declared in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (On Evangelization in the Modern World, 1973) that evangelization is the Church’s vocation:
The Church . . . willingly adds with St. Paul, “Not that I boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty that has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it!” It is a task and mission which the vast and profound changes of present-day society make all the more urgent. Evangelizing is in fact the grace and proper vocation to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of his death and glorious resurrection (14).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church also teaches that evangelization is necessary for salvation:
The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: “All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks. Service of and witness to the Faith are necessary for salvation: “So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (1816).
“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” (1 Pet. 3:15). Each has the responsibility to do everything possible to urge strayed family members, friends, and acquaintances to come to the shelter of the Church under the wings of the Divine Presence.
In Redemptoris Missio (Mission of the Redeemer, 1990), Pope St. John Paul II recognized that evangelization on the part of the faithful has been declining:
There is an immediate situation, particularly in countries with ancient Christian roots, and occasionally in the younger Churches as well, where entire groups of the baptized have lost a living sense of the faith, or even no longer consider themselves members of the Church, and live a life far removed from Christ and his Gospel. In this case what is needed is a new evangelization or a re-evangelization.
The churches in traditionally Christian countries, for example, involved as they are in the challenging task of new evangelization, are coming to understand more clearly that they cannot be missionaries to non-Christians in other countries and continents unless they are seriously concerned about the non-Christians at home (33).
Few have listened to these pleas. Catholics have a poor record when it comes to sharing the Faith. If we Catholics sincerely believe we are members of the true Church, the Church founded by Jesus Christ, we should be shouting it from the rooftops. The one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church in the United States has hidden its light far too long. Our lamp must be taken from under the bushel.
A fly fisher can stand still in mid-stream, but he is the exception. Advance or decline is the law of nature and of life. We are seeing a blatant attack on all that Catholicism stands for, and those leading the attack know exactly what they are doing. Unless we strive to reverse this trend, the forces of secularism and irreligion will continue to lead our country into the ever-widening abyss of paganism.
Jesus says to each of us, as he said to Simon Peter and his brother Andrew so many years ago, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19).
St. John Chrysostom wrote, “The loss of one soul carries with it a penalty which no language can represent. For if the salvation of that soul was of such value, that the Son of God became man, and suffered so much, think how sore a punishment must the losing of it bring!” (Homily III: Acts 1:12). There is no middle ground in this war. Revelation 3:15-16 states, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.”
The vast majority of those who seek to undermine the teaching authority of the Church do so in ignorance. Few, if any, who attack the Church have done any research into the foundations of her teachings. They rant and rail against a caricature, a gross misrepresentation of the Church. But this ignorance is no excuse to “bear false witness” (see Exod. 20:16). Holy Scripture demands that we search for the truth.
In addition to those who seek to undermine the teachings of the Church, there also are those who are sincere inquirers and ardent seekers of the truth. To whom should they look for information and guidance but to the educated Catholic layperson with whom they come in daily contact through social or business relationships? It is a great work of charity to take the time to lead the sincere inquirer to the bosom of the Church.
Intellectual integrity is required to begin this search. And we cannot fully search and explore if we have blinders on our eyes. We must be willing to put prejudices and preconceptions aside and follow the Spirit of truth. It is my sincere belief that anyone genuinely desirous of Christ’s truth will find it in the doctrines of the Catholic Church.
Have you lost a friend or family member to a Protestant denomination or religious cult? Have family members ceased attending Holy Mass? Do you avoid conversations about aspects of Church teaching or history? Do you have niggling doubts about Church doctrine?
The Catholic Church has the answers to life’s questions. Study your faith. Arm yourself intellectually, and become a confident warrior for Christ.