Faith Bound

Our Role Together with You in The New Evangelization: Part II

Posted by Timothy C. Hall on Aug 25, 2015 5:02:00 PM

As discussed in Our Role Together with You in The New Evangelization: Part One, the Church’s New Evangelization encourages increased evangelism as a catalyst for renewal. This new kind of evangelism emphasizes “building bridges” rather than walls. An area of focus “re-evangelizing” the baptized, sharing the faith with those who have suffered what Pope Francis has called the “troubling loss of the sense of the sacred”.

But what about those Catholics who are not sure if they feel called to reach out to their neighbor with explicit invitations to attend church or learn more about the faith? What does it mean, exactly, to “evangelize?” The answer gives hope to those who may not feel cut out to be an “evangelist” in the traditional sense. As it turns out, you can be a part of the New Evangelization without explicitly engaging others on matters of faith and morals.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote that “Testimony to Christ’s charity through works of justice, peace and development, is part and parcel of evangelization.” In addition, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote that “Integral human development...especially of the poorest and most neglected in the community…is at the very heart of evangelization.” He also stated that “the evangelical witness which the world finds most appealing is that of concern for people, and of charity toward the poor, the weak, and those who suffer.” Avery Cardinal Dulles wrote that, in addition to the more traditional evangelical activities of proclaiming the Gospel, “Evangelization can also take the form of social action.”

No one familiar with Church teachings on evangelization would claim that social action alone comprises the totality of what it means to evangelize; however, the Church makes it clear that to help the poor, the weak and those who suffer is to fulfill an important Gospel mandate to “make disciples of all nations.”

teens_from_CARITAS_child_sponsorship_programs

Teens from our child sponsorship programs take a break from volunteering to clean the church of Nkokonjeru Parish.

CARITAS For Children, in securing care and support for children in need through Catholic child sponsorship programs, does engage in social action, but a kind of social action clearly evangelical in nature. This is because, as a Catholic lay apostolate with a “concern for people,” CARITAS provides financial assistance for the health, education and general welfare of orphaned and disadvantaged children. Not only is this work “charity toward the poor,” but with an emphasis on self-sufficiency also promotes “integral human development.” In short, the work of CARITAS For Children is also the work of evangelization – that which is consciously oriented toward the New Evangelization.

Yet this organization also plays a more traditional evangelical role by proclaiming that Christ’s love is the wellspring of its reason for being. In addition, expressly Catholic education is provided for the children in our child sponsorship programs in cooperation with our ministry partners such as the Little Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi in Central Uganda. In doing so, CARITAS For Children takes pains to ensure that the content of our educational ministry upholds the teachings of the Catholic Church. Therefore CARITAS not only builds bridges between people across continents, it also fulfills the mandate to witness and preach as well.

So when modern people attempt to solve the riddle of how to live the life of a faithful Christian in an often hostile culture, CARITAS For Children provides a valuable service. For those who lack close familiarity with the catechism or the inclination to discuss it with strangers, support of CARITAS can clearly bear an “evangelical witness which the world finds most appealing”.


Tim Hall is CARITAS For Children’s Regional Director of Church Outreach. Tim has a Master of Theology degree from Notre Dame.

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