The Key to Evangelizing: Homily for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

21^st Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   August 27, 2023
Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette

Maybe you felt it… With all the talk about tension and jealousy and evangelization, maybe you felt this uncomfortable question in the back of your mind. I’ve been focusing on what it means to evangelize the world while also becoming less like the world. But perhaps you’ve found yourself wondering about more basic questions like: “What’s a practical way to evangelize?” “Why is God doing things this way?” and “Are we really sure we’re right and the world isn’t?”

For a couple of weeks, I’ve talked about big picture questions around evangelization, but perhaps you’re more interested in the basics. What do I do to evangelize? The first thing is to seek out the grace of God. Grace can move hearts and illuminate minds in a way that no argument could and without grace, you will evangelize no one.

I want to emphasize that this is a practical answer. How do I convert my friends, family, neighbors, and strangers? Prayer. Sacrifices like fasting and voluntary penance. Almsgiving. Devout attendance at Mass; sincere Confession, treating Marriage as a service, living out your Confirmation. These are practical steps to evangelizing because they really do call down grace into your life and the lives of others.

But in the moment, in an actual conversation, what do we say? Sometimes, you just gotta tell people things about Jesus Christ, using the right amount of persuasion, passion, kindness, or forcefulness that the moment calls for. More often, however, we should imitate what Jesus does right here: ask questions.

Jesus doesn’t just tell his Apostles “I am God incarnate.” He’s been hinting at it, but he does something before just saying it: he asks what others think: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” In a conversation with a non-believer or even with a lukewarm believer, the best tactic is often to simply find out what they really think. It’s so easy to think we already know what other people think. You might, but you might not. And the point of the question isn’t just information. If you find yourself in a conversation with someone who seems open… or if you feel a sudden inspiration to bring up faith, start with questions. Things like: “what do you believe?” “What do you think the point of life is?” “Can you tell me how you imagine God?” If they don’t believe in God try asking them to describe the God they don’t believe in. You may find they describe a God you’d reject too. You might then say, “I don’t believe in that God, do you about the one I do believe in?”

Ask questions and really listen to the answers. By seeking to understand them, you can create a space of trust and identify the real concerns and needs. It probably won’t mean instant conversion, but it gives you a place to start, a sense of how to connect what they’re actually looking for with what our faith offers. Sometimes they’re not far off – like Simon Peter in the Gospel – and you’ll be able to dive deeper into the more difficult or mysterious aspects of the faith. We’ll see some of that next week.

Still, evangelization eventually runs up against this question: “Why is God doing things this way?” St. Paul’s letter to the Romans offers a complicated a nuanced vision of God’s plan to use jealousy and humility to save the Gentiles and Jews. Paul doesn’t’ dismiss this, but imitates Jesus by simply doubling down on the mystery: “How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor?” In other words, when someone asks “why is God doing this,” sometimes there is an answer we can discover with prayer and reflection. Sometimes, however, it really does come down to mystery… to a simple, “No one knows; We can’t know. His ways are beyond us, but we can trust him.” Again, we’ll see next week how that kind of challenge can play out, how someone can be evangelized even as they misunderstand what we tell them.

If we’re going to get that stage, to the invitation to genuine faith that goes beyond mere agreement, we’ll need to be able to stand our ground on the mystery and the challenge. This is that third question from the beginning: “are we sure we’re right and the world isn’t?” The short answer is, or should be, “yes.” Unfortunately, a lot of people inside the Church are acting like it’s not so clear. I’m talking about the ongoing synod on synodality. A synod is a meeting of Bishops and Church leaders to discuss some aspect of Church life. This particular synod is a 3 year process of conversation and reflection on the way the Holy Spirit wants the Church to operate in the world.

At best, this particular synod is meant to be the same kind of thing we see in the Gospel. Jesus asks the question of his Apostles – the first bishops – gets the answers, and then teaches what is true regardless of what other people want to believe. Sadly, there are some very powerful leaders in the Church who want to use this synod to change the Church’s teaching on marriage, sexuality, priesthood, and salvation through Christ alone. They will not succeed. Jesus listens to all the wrong answers in the gospel, but he doesn’t change his teaching. He doesn’t become Jeremiah because people think he is. The majority of people are wrong, so he points out the truth, reaffirms and deepens that truth, and then promises that “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against” the Church in proclaiming that truth. The Church’s doctrine cannot be changed by a vote. Do not be fooled by those who say it can.

Honestly, if we think the Church should change it’s teaching to match the world’s opinion, then why bother with the Church in the first place? If we are going to evangelize the world, we cannot become like the world. No one… not a bishop, a cardinal, or even the pope can decide to change our teachings to match.

No, Jesus is clear that the “gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against” the Church. And he gives that promise to the pope. This doesn’t mean everything the pope says and does is perfect, but it does mean that an essential part of remaining Catholic is to remain under the authority of the pope. We’ll see next week how that applies even when the pope makes mistakes. The pope’s authority is a very specific thing and easily misunderstood, but the point I want you to hold on to now is that you must not listen to people who suggest we should follow them instead of the pope. Hold on to the creed. Hold on to the doctrines we’ve always taught about morality and the sacraments – they won’t chance I promise you. But also, if this synod does lead to a split in the Church – I don’t think it will – but if it does, stay with the pope.

Do not listen to online doomsayers. Do not listen to people who make money off of internet outrage! Do not listen to anyone who promises to change what we’ve always believed. Pray for the pope and bishops, keep proclaiming the gospel, and don’t worry!

How do we evangelize? Love others, listen to them, and try to show them how what they really want most is found in Jesus. What is God’s plan in this messy world? Sometimes it’s a mystery, but we know his reasons are rooted in love and truth even if they are beyond us at the moment. Are we sure the Church is right and the world isn’t? For 2000 years, the Church has outlasted every government, philosophy, and threat she has faced from both inside and out. She has not only survived, but grown! The netherworld has not prevailed and it never will! The Love of the Lord is eternal; he will never forsake the work of his hands. We have only to follow him and to bring as many with us as we can.