“New
Evangelization” has, perhaps, become the catchword in Church circles over these past years when we have acknowledged this generation’s crisis of faith
in many Christian countries due to the inroads of secularist and materialist way
of thinking. We recall during the Year of Faith (2012), we were exhorted by Pope Benedict XVI “to rediscover the joy of believing and the
enthusiasm for communicating the faith” [PF, no. 6]. We were invited to engage
in the task of evangelization with renewed joy and enthusiasm.
In one of the anniversary celebrations of the Couples for Christ held in Manila I brushed elbows with thousands of lay people swarming the Quirino Grandstand to
thank God for the blessings and fruits of their mission worldwide. I met many of the lay leaders whose all-out commitment
to the work of evangelization puts me to shame. And their sense of mission to
spread the gospel to “the ends of the earth” is characterized by obvious and
contagious joy and enthusiasm. Deep inside
me was a growing confidence that God is, indeed, listening to the prayer of His
Church for more labourers in his Kingdom. This time, God is calling and sending
more from the “rank” of the laity.
Era of the Laity. Today’s gospel (Lk 10:1-12, 17-20) recounts
the appointment of the seventy two disciples whom the Lord sent for the mission
of proclaiming the reign of God. Clearly
the Lord sees the need, apart from the twelve apostles, for more collaborators
in the mission. The work of evangelization, if it is to make a dent in today’s
crisis of faith among Christian countries, cannot remain an exclusive task of
the ordained ministers. In the spirit of the 2nd Vatican Council and
ensuing papal exhortations, lay apostolate ought to flourish and be propelled
to rejuvenate the life of the Church. The Church, dominantly controlled by the
ordained ministers, has to pave the way for lay empowerment and participation
in her mission. It must be, for the
ordained, a joy to behold that the lay who have been evangelized are now
themselves effective and joyful evangelizers!
Clericalism,
which assigns the sole authority over almost all the aspects of ecclesial life
to the rank of the ordained and sees the role of the laity in terms of the
submissive stance of “paying, praying and obeying,” has to become a thing of
the past. The life and mission of the Church will be blessed with abundant
fruits and great harvests as we empower the lay and send them as collaborators
in the work of proclaiming the reign of God.
As we pray
for more workers for God’s abundant harvest (v. 2), we implore for more
vocations not only for the religious and priestly ministry. This prayer should
also be an ardent appeal for more committed lay collaborators who, by their
joyful witnessing of God’s love and mercy, proclaim to the world that God’s reign
is at hand.
The Joy of
Discipleship-in-mission. So much for the
difficult and hard demands of discipleship, today’s gospel points out the joy
inherent in the fulfilment of the mission of a disciple. Discipleship, even if
often described as costly, difficult, not-a-walk-in-the-park commitment, is
nonetheless characterized by joy. It is
not a surprise, for instance, that the
list of the ten happiest jobs (according to the General Social Survey by the
National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago) is
topped by the clergy and followed by other service-oriented professions. Among these professions, the least
worldly are reported to be the happiest of all. The happiness is observed
to be directly proportionate to the ability and opportunity to be of service—a distinctive
mark of Christian discipleship.
The gospel recounts that the seventy two returned
rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your
name” (v. 17).
The meaning of discipleship does not rest only in the act
of following and in the painful learning of the discipline and teachings. It finds
its fulfillment in being sent. What brings so much joy and evokes enthusiasm is
the dynamic life brought about by discipleship-in-mission. A disciple who stays in one’s comfort zone
may bask in one’s security but will eventually suffer emptiness. But the one
who embraces the risk in giving himself/herself to the mission will find
Christian life an exciting adventure.
There is joy in being sent by the Lord. This is the
joy of participating in and witnessing firsthand the fulfillment of the reign
of God in our midst. This is the joy of victory, as the Lord assures a
missionary that, whenever the name of Jesus is proclaimed and embraced in
faith, Satan “falls like lightning from the sky” (v. 18). This is the joy of belonging
to God as ultimate reward, as Jesus promises that the names of the disciples
sent are written in heaven (v. 20).
In today’s
context of crisis of faith, where are we sent by the Lord that we may proclaim
with joy and enthusiasm the beauty of our faith? In our parochial ministries
and apostolate, can we move along the direction of a joyful and enthusiastic
collaboration between the pastor and the lay?
