Called to evangelise

In modern times, we are often baffled by secular viewpoints that conflict with traditional biblical teachings. We often feel that our deeply held beliefs are out of step with mainstream culture. Some people feel psychological and social pressure to conform to norms and abandon religious practices, or at the very least, there is a loss of religious literacy. We get less and less familiar with Christian teachings and move through our days on autopilot.

It is not so with God. He has worked relentlessly for the salvation of humankind since the beginning of time. That is what we see in the First Reading (Ex 19: 2-6). We see how God freed the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage. He had a soft spot for them; they were a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people set apart to proclaim His message to the pagan world.

For their part, the Hebrews tried to be faithful to their covenant with God and to listen to His Word. However, they gradually fell by the wayside and turned against Him. When God finally sent His only Son into the world, they put Him to the test and crucified Him. By then, Jesus had already chosen His apostles, whom He then sent to the world on a mission. Ad Gentes.

And what a mission that was! It was not a usual mission, and it continues into our days: the divine invitation extends to us as well. As Our Lord says in the Gospel (Mt 9: 36 – 10: 8): ‘The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send forth labourers into His harvest…. And having called His twelve disciples together, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities.’

The power to heal and cast out spirits that Jesus gave the Twelve is the same grace channelled through the Sacraments today. These visible, outward signs instituted by Christ are a way to convey divine grace, sanctify us as believers, and nourish our spiritual life. But alas, technological living very often stifles the life of the spirit; it goes against the supernatural aspects of our faith, such as miracles, or even the foundational Resurrection of Jesus, which are often rationalised, demystified, and distorted.

If we only accepted that our great God gives true and complete meaning to life, we would have consciously and happily adopted a supernatural approach to it; we would have realised that our life goes beyond the present world right into eternity. That is what we are called to do and be. Therefore, the greatest challenge before us is to be evangelically correct, not politically correct.

Jesus declared to Pilate, ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’ He prayed for his followers, stating that they are ‘in the world, but not of the world’ (Jn 17: 11-16). St Paul the Apostle echoed this by commanding them to ‘not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (Rom 12: 2).

God’s command to us all to go out into the world and preach the Good News will be fruitful if we believe deeply in it. Believing is not just an act of the mind but a movement of the heart; it is not merely listening to God’s Word but acting on it with love. As followers of Christ, we need to do whatever we can, wherever we may be.

Thanks to the Good Shepherd, we are no longer sheep without a shepherd; we ought not to be on autopilot. But then, we are often the ones who fall by the wayside today. That is when we must think of our great and wonderful God who, as St Paul points out in the Second Reading (Rom 5: 6-11) reconciled Himself to us even when we turned against Him. He died to give us life; now, we have the privilege of living for Him.

To proclaim God’s Holy Name from the rooftops is our vocation and our mission as Christians: we are called to evangelise, and the undeniable fact is that our hearts will be restless until they rest in God.