20210422 PERSONAL EVANGELIZING
22 April, 2021, Thursday, 3rd Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 8:26-40 © |
Philip baptizes a eunuch
The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.’ So he set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her chief treasurer. He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and meet that chariot.’ When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ ‘How can I’ he replied ‘unless I have someone to guide me?’ So he invited Philip to get in and sit by his side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this:
Like a sheep that is led to the slaughter-house,
like a lamb that is dumb in front of its shearers,
like these he never opens his mouth.
He has been humiliated and has no one to defend him.
Who will ever talk about his descendants,
since his life on earth has been cut short!
The eunuch turned to Philip and said, ‘Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?’ Starting, therefore, with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the Good News of Jesus to him.
Further along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptised?’ He ordered the chariot to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip baptised him. But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Philip found that he had reached Azotus and continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as Caesarea.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 65(66):8-9,16-17,20 © |
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
O peoples, bless our God,
let the voice of his praise resound,
of the God who gave life to our souls
and kept our feet from stumbling.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Come and hear, all who fear God.
I will tell what he did for my soul:
to him I cried aloud,
with high praise ready on my tongue.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Blessed be God
who did not reject my prayer
nor withhold his love from me.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord, who hung for us upon the tree,
has risen from the tomb.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn6:51 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,
says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 6:44-51 © |
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven
Jesus said to the crowd:
‘No one can come to me
unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me,
and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They will all be taught by God,
and to hear the teaching of the Father,
and learn from it,
is to come to me.
Not that anybody has seen the Father,
except the one who comes from God:
he has seen the Father.
I tell you most solemnly,
everybody who believes has eternal life.
‘I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the desert
and they are dead;
but this is the bread that comes down from heaven,
so that a man may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,
for the life of the world.’
PERSONAL EVANGELIZING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 8:26-40; PS 66:8-9,16-17,20; JOHN 6:44-51 ]
The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles illustrates how the gospel was reaching to the ends of the earth, as far as Ethiopia. Indeed, the gospel message is a universal message for all. That is why we are called Catholics because the Church is inclusive of everyone, regardless of language, culture or race, nationality or even sexual orientation. In the story of Philip’s outreach to the Ethiopian Eunuch, the message of Luke the evangelist is that the gospel is transcultural. One does not need to give up his language or culture to become a Christian, unless the values of the culture contradict the message of the gospel. Otherwise, most cultures can easily be assimilated by the gospel since most cultural values are good values in strengthening the individual and especially the community. This is what we call, inculturation of the gospel. Today we even speak of the gospel as transcultural. In other words, we present the truth of the gospel couched in the language and culture of the peoples we evangelize.
No one is excluded from the gospel, not even the Eunuch who, although probably a proselyte to Judaism, was restricted from entering the Temple to offer worship because of the prohibition in the Law. (Dt 23:1) Nevertheless, this prohibition could have been relaxed in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah that “to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name.” (cf Isa 56:3-6) And we can also say this for those who are divorced, those with same sex orientation, the gospel is meant for them. Everyone must be brought to the Lord. Philip reached out not only to the Ethiopian eunuch but a black African.
Earlier on, Philip went to preach to Samaria, a people of mixed race between Jews and the Gentiles. They were enemies of the Jews. The Samaritans held Moses with great respect but not the rest of the prophets, especially those that came after the division between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Yet, Philip went to offer them the Good News. He broke down the barriers between him and the Samaritans, probably also because he was a Greek-speaking Jew converted to Christianity. But the message of Luke is the same. The gospel must be preached to all the nations till the ends of the earth.
But how is the gospel spread? One way is by public preaching and ministering. Mass evangelizing is one way to announce the Good News. We use this method when we hold mass rally, worship services, outreach programs, exhibitions, mass retreats and seminars and today, with on-line preaching and masses. This way of evangelism remains important in proclaiming the Good News. This was the method that St Peter used when he addressed the crowd gathered at Jerusalem on the feast of Pentecost. (Acts 2:14-42) Similarly, Philip reached out to the Samaritans by preaching publicly to the crowd. “The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured. So there was great joy in that city.” (Acts 8:5-8) So inviting prospective believers to come for our services, rallies and retreats could be one way of bringing them to know the Lord.
But personal evangelizing cannot be replaced by mass evangelizing. This is why, Luke, places two contrasting and complementary ways in which Philip spread the gospel. At Samaria, it was public evangelism. But with the Ethiopian, it was a personal evangelism. We are told that he reached out on a one-to-one basis to the Ethiopian eunuch to bring him the full message of the gospel. He did not confine evangelization just to one method but according to the situation and needs.
What, then, does it take for us to do a one-to-one evangelization? Firstly, we must be in touch with the Spirit. In other words, we must be attentive, docile and receptive to the prompting of the Spirit in us. Indeed, God is always speaking to us, giving us directions and promptings. But unless we are in union with God, in touch with Him, we cannot listen to Him properly. St Paul showed himself always attentive to the prompting of the Spirit as to where he should go for his mission. So we must be open to the different ways the Spirit is prompting us to move ahead. Unfortunately, most of us are driven by fear, pride and selfishness, even when we are evangelizing. We are wrongly motivated in what we do, even if it appears to be doing good. Indeed, sometimes rigid structures and institutions can stifle the dynamism of the Holy Spirit.
Not for Philip! He went where the Spirit led him. He had to leave his ministry behind in Jerusalem in the face of persecution. We are told that whilst busy proclaiming the gospel to the Samaritans, he was gaining support and bearing much fruit because of the miracles he performed, then “the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.’ So, he set off on his journey.” Philip obeyed the inner voice of the Spirit. He was flexible and receptive to where the Spirit wanted to lead him without insisting on his ways. It would not be easy for us to leave an exciting and attentive big audience to go down to a deserted road just to reach out to one person. If he did not listen to the voice speaking to him, he would not be standing where the eunuch would be passing by. We can be sure; the eunuch would have spread the Good News to his countrymen when he arrived home.
Secondly, we must be in touch with the people. He heard the Eunuch, an officer of the queen of Ethiopia, her chief treasurer in his chariot reading the prophet Isaiah. Philip took the initiative to ask the Ethiopian, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I unless I have someone to guide me?” Philip could sense that he was a searching person, interested to seek God and the fullness of truth. When we are in touch with people’s needs, we learn to be sensitive to them. In preaching the gospel, we do not come announcing, “Christ is the Saviour of the World.” Rather, we must first be in touch with peoples’ struggles, sufferings, dilemma and issues in life and find ways to address them specifically. When we proclaim the gospel to those who are not aware of their need for Christ or for salvation, then indeed, we are throwing pearls before swine. That is why before we can proclaim the gospel, we must first awaken our listeners as to why they need Christ and how Christ can answer to their needs. This was what St Peter did in his first homily, by showing their ignorance in crucifying the Prince of Life and that by repenting, their sins would be forgiven, and they would receive the same Holy Spirit and the blessings of God.
Thirdly, we cannot evangelize unless we are familiar with the gospel. Philip was well versed in the scriptures. He was able to explain and make sense for the Ethiopian on the scripture text of Isaiah, showing him how Jesus is the fulfillment. This was the same way that the Lord explained to the disciples at Emmaus and the Eleven, that the scriptures foretold His sufferings, death and resurrection. Unless, we too are familiar with the Word of God, we will not be able to explain how the scripture texts could provide answers to our questions and help us to resolve our problems or to face the challenges of life. The answer is clear, we must be in touch with the Spirit, with the gospel, with our Lord Himself and with our peoples’ struggles if we want to be effective evangelizers.
Finally, let it be clear that conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not our ingenuity, eloquence or persuasive power. When a person is converted, the seed of faith had already been planted in him by various peoples before us and in various ways. Indeed, the gospel says, “No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God, and to hear the teaching of the Father, and learn from it, is to come to me.” We must depend on the grace of God alone through fervent prayer and intercession for our listeners.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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