Truth of the Spirit with Patti Brunner answers the question “Who should provide catechesis and evangelization?” in How Do I Spread the Good News #5 Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ. Using the teachings of the Catholic Church Patti Brunner looks at the fulfillment of the great commission as facets of our lives as Christians. Truth of the Spirit introduces you to St. Anthony Mary Claret as an example of how one person spread the Good News in Spain and Cuba and was heard around the world. For video and audio links or to read the blog please continue reading.
There used to be an unwritten rule in the workplace and in social gatherings: Do not talk about religion or politics! In recent years the political polarization in the United States has brought politics into every facet of social media, entertainment outlet, news outlet and the effect is evident in daily life but talk about faith continues to seem to be taboo. Where does catechesis and evangelizing belong? Who should do it? A bright spot on the horizon is the ‘against all odds’ self-contained high quality production of the Christian series “The Chosen”. But shouldn’t this great production be the norm instead of the exception? Catechism Paragraph #730 teaches “…the mission of Christ and the Spirit becomes the mission of the Church: “as the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit. I am your host Patti Brunner. Today’s episode is “How Do I Spread the Good News?” Our discussion will include: “Where does catechesis and evangelizing belong? Who should do it?” This is part 5 of the Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ series.
Pope John Paul II defined catechesis by writing: “the name of catechesis was given to the whole of the efforts within the Church to make disciples, to help people to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, so that believing they might have life in His name, and to educate and instruct them in this life and thus build up the Body of Christ”. Our English word “gospel” translates the Greek term “euangelion” meaning “good news.”
As we search in the Catechism of the Catholic Church for instruction on “How the Church is to grow?” we immediately find Paragraph #3. It says, “Those who with God’s help have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ’s faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer.”
Let me repeat that. “All Christ’s faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer.”
On October 24 the Church celebrated the feast day of Saint Anthony Mary Claret who was canonized in 1950. This “exceptional preacher with incredible charisms”[i] shared the Good News personally in Spain and in Cuba. Since then his work has been shared around the world. During his 35 years as a priest “he wrote 144 books and preached some 25,000 sermons.”[ii]
Living in the mid 1800’s he “boldly proclaimed: “The sole reason why society is perishing is because it has refused to hear the word of the Church, which is the word of life, the word of God. All plans for salvation will be sterile if the great word of the Catholic Church is not restored in all its fullness.”[iii]
It is not just charismatic saints who are commissioned to share the Gospel. Catechism Paragraph #863 says, “The whole Church is apostolic, in that she remains, through the successors of St. Peter and the other apostles, in communion of faith and life with her origin: and in that she is “sent out” into the whole world. All members of the Church share in this mission, though in various ways. “The Christian vocation is, of its nature, a vocation to the apostolate as well.” Indeed, we call an apostolate “every activity of the Mystical Body” that aims “to spread the Kingdom of Christ over all the earth.””
We can be inspired by such saints as St. Anthony Mary Claret; we are not to be intimidated by the volume of their work or that he was ordained a priest and an archbishop. Catechism Paragraph #873 comforts us and challenges us when it says, “The very differences which the Lord has willed to put between the members of his body serve its unity and mission. For “in the Church there is diversity of ministry but unity and mission. To the apostles and their successors Christ has entrusted the office of teaching, sanctifying, and governing in his name and by his power. But the laity are made to share in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly office of Christ; they have therefore, in the Church and in the world, their own assignment in the mission of the whole People of God.” Finally, “from both groups [hierarchy and laity] there exist Christian faithful who are consecrated to God in their own special manner and serve the salvific mission of the Church through the profession of the evangelical counsels.””
What motivated someone like St. Anthony to be such a missionary to travel on foot trusting entirely on the Lord’s provision? Catechism Paragraph #851 explains ‘Missionary motivation’. “It is from God’s love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, “for the love of Christ urges us on.” Indeed, God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”; that is, God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the prompting of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God’s universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary.”
When I was very young, I thought only priests and sisters could be missionaries. And I thought that all missionaries had to travel to far off lands where they had to live in grass huts or where the chance for martyrdom was high. I had no idea or understanding that my own state of Arkansas was considered to be a missionary state! And I had no understanding that, as Paragraph #905 says, “Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, “that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life.” For lay people, “this evangelization…acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world.” “This witness of life, however, is not the sole element in the apostolate; the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers…or to the faithful.”
So, our first evangelism is the basic witness of how we live our lives as faithful Christians. Catechism Paragraph #2044 says, “The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the Church’s mission in the world. In order that the message of salvation can show the power of its truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the witness of the life of Christians. “The witness of a Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have great power to draw men to the faith and to God.”
The inclusion of the laity in evangelism was illuminated by St. Pope Paul VI when he said, “The laity can also feel called, or be in fact called, to cooperate with their pastors in the service of the ecclesial community, for the sake of its growth and life. This can be done through the exercise of different kinds of ministries according to the grace and charisms which the Lord has been pleased to bestow on them.” [Paul VI EN 73]
The number one denomination of Christians in the world are identified as “Catholic”. The word catholic means universal. The Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. Secondly, Catechism Paragraph #831 tells us, “the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race: “All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People, therefore, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God’s will may be fulfilled: he made human nature one in the beginning and has decreed that all his children who were scattered should be finally gathered together as one…The character of universality which adorns the People of God is a gift from the Lord himself whereby the Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods, under Christ the Head in the unity of his Spirit.”
Let’s go to the beginning paragraphs of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #4 through 8:
“4 Quite early on, the name catechesis was given to the totality of the Church’s efforts to make disciples, to help men believe that Jesus is the Son of God so that believing they might have life in his name, and to educate and instruct them in this life, thus building up the body of Christ.”
“5“Catechesis is an education in the faith of children, young people, and adults which includes especially the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted, generally speaking, in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into the fullness of Christian life.”
“6 While not being formally identified with them, catechesis is built on a certain number of elements of the Church’s pastoral mission which have a Catechetical aspect, that prepare for catechesis, or spring from it. They are: the initial proclamation of the Gospel or missionary preaching to arouse faith; examination of the reasons for belief; experience of Christian living; celebration of the sacraments; integration into the ecclesial community; and apostolic and missionary witness.”
You see how the circle continues? You start with missionary witness and the goal is for them to become missionary witnesses—to continue sharing the Good News.
“7 “Catechesis is intimately bound up with the whole of the Church’s life. Not only her geographical extension and numerical increase, but even more her inner growth and correspondence with God’s plan depend essentially on catechesis.”
Catechesis doesn’t end with Baptism and Confirmation! It should continue to the day we join the Lord in heaven.
“8 Periods of renewal in the Church are also intense moments of catechesis. In the great era of the Fathers of the Church, saintly bishops devoted an important part of their ministry to catechesis. St. Cyril of Jerusalem and St. John Chrysostom, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, and many other Fathers wrote catechetical works that remain models for us.”
As we look around the world today, is not our hope for renewal? As we see the decline of faith, morality, and virtue do we not ask the Lord to send the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth? Do we not turn to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the rosary, as St. Anthony Mary Claret did, for her help?
Let’s look and see what Jesus tells us in Sacred Scripture. We’ll look at verses about what is known as “The great commission.”
The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 28:18-20 “18 Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Saint John Paul II taught about this verse. He wrote this about Christ’s Final Command[iv]: “1. The Church has always considered catechesis one of her primary tasks, for, before Christ ascended to His Father after His resurrection, He gave the apostles a final command-to make disciples of all nations and to teach them to observe all that He had commanded.(1) He thus entrusted them with the mission and power to proclaim to humanity what they had heard, what they had seen with their eyes, what they had looked upon and touched with their hands, concerning the Word of Life.(2) He also entrusted them with the mission and power to explain with authority what He had taught them, His words and actions, His signs and commandments. And He gave them the Spirit to fulfill this mission.
“Very soon the name of catechesis was given to the whole of the efforts within the Church to make disciples, to help people to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, so that believing they might have life in His name,(3) and to educate and instruct them in this life and thus build up the Body of Christ. The Church has not ceased to devote her energy to this task. “
The Gospel of John Chapter 20 combines the Resurrection, the coming of the Holy Spirit and ordination of the apostles with the great commission. “19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 (Jesus) said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
In the Gospel of Luke Chapter 24 Jesus catechizes his disciples with understanding of scripture after the Resurrection then shares the great commission with the Emmaus disciples. The Gospel says, “45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 46 And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And (behold) I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Luke expands the description of being “clothed with power from on high” in his book the Acts of the Apostles Chapter1:8 “But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
In Acts Chapter 2:14 we hear of the witness of Peter as he raised his voice and proclaimed the Good News and 3000 people were baptized.
The Gospel writers do not make us wait to the end of the story and give a surprise ending. Jesus kept telling his followers the truth but without the power of the Holy Spirit they could not comprehend all that he taught even when he spoke out the truth clearly. In Chapter 4 of the Gospel of Luke we hear how Jesus from the beginning of his ministry spoke the fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah. “14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and news of him spread throughout the whole region. 15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. 16 He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read 17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” 20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 21 He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” The Church continues to make this proclamation.
Remember this: the Lord did not call just the original 12 apostles to go out and share the Gospel. In the Acts of the Apostle Chapter 16 we see that the commission is ongoing and is being extended to all the Church in the call to Paul and Timothy. Luke writes, “10 When he had seen the vision, we sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.”
Let us take a few minutes for meditation of what we have heard and read in this episode.
Did what you just heard surprise you?
Do you need to know more? Do you need a change in attitude?
What example have you given by the witness of your life? Did your actions spread the Gospel?
Do your opinions of what Jesus teaches match the catechism?
What truth have you discovered?
How can you use what you have learned?
How can you teach others what you have learned?
In light of what we have been “catechized” by the Holy Spirit through the Church’s teachings and writings, think about defending, sharing, and teaching the Truth.
Are they facets of your life?
How can each of us begin or increase this duty as a Christian?
What do you think?
Let me share something the Lord wanted me to say to you before a closing prayer. He said, “My child, in your heart you long to generously share my gifts to you. At times your personality makes this difficult. Fear not. I know your heart. There will be a time of grace where your mind will freely cooperate with your heart. The Lord also says to us: “As you send forth my word unto the people it bears fruit. 1000 fold. When you teach a man to fish and he teaches the whole village—this is fruitfulness that cannot be measured by viewers. There are some who listen who cannot read. There are some who listen who lead quiet lives of prayer. There are others who need a comforting voice in the night. Fear not, I am with you.”
Let us pray:
Lord, we have been called to begin or increase this duty as a Christian to spread the Good News You have given to us. Help us to follow through with our plans. This week we reach out to You. We choose to accept your Grace. Create zeal in us to hunger to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that (You) have commanded (us).” Help us to ‘make disciples, to help people to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, so that believing they might have life in His name, and to educate and instruct them in this life and thus build up the Body of Christ’. Show us this week, dearest Lord, that You are real then use us to show others that You are real. –Amen!
You have been listening to Truth of the Spirit and “How Do I Spread the Good News #5 Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ” I’m Patti Brunner. You can read the script at
www.PatriarchMinistries.com/183. Our next Stepping Stone episode will be about Understanding the Body of Christ and Accepting God’s Love in Others. We invite you to subscribe and come back next time, because there is more. With the Holy Spirit there’s always more! Amen.
[i] St. Anthony Mary Claret – Saints & Angels – Catholic Online captured 10/24/2021
“Claret was an exceptional preacher with incredible charisms: witnesses said his body would become transfigured while preaching or in prayer, he would levitate up to six feet off the ground at times in front of credible witnesses, he stopped a series of earthquakes in Cuba by kneeling on the ground and placing his palms to the earth while uttering prayers, he could calm terrible storms by raising a hand to the sky and blessing the storm clouds, he experienced apparitions of both Jesus and Mary, and was even seen walking on water. In addition, a supernatural light that radiated from his body while he was saying Mass was seen by many. It was so intense at times that one witness said he saw the light radiate from his body behind the altar all the way to the sacristy. Queen Isabella of Spain even produced a written statement solemnly declaring that she had personally witnessed this phenomenon.[7]”
[ii] The life of St. Anthony Mary Claret (olrl.org) captured 10/24/2021
[iii] St. Anthony Mary Claret – Saints & Angels – Catholic Online captured 10/24/2021
[iv] Catechesis in Our Time Pope John Paul II CATECHESI TRADENDAE October 16, 1979. INTRODUCTION Christ’s Final Command
