Evangelization Project Number One: Me

If you follow this blog (thank you!) you've probably seen this fairly often:

• 'Love God, love your neighbor'
  (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31)
• Everybody is our neighbor
  (Matthew 5:43-44, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-30; Catechism, 1825)

There's more to my faith than that, but the basics are quite simple. Jesus died on Golgotha, which settled accounts between God and humanity: including me. I've decided that paying attention to Jesus is a good idea. So is accepting him as my Lord. (August 1, 2012)

'Loving my neighbor' doesn't mean always having gooey feelings toward others. It does mean acting as if other people matter. That gets me into 'faith and works,' which is almost another topic.

Jesus' 'to do' List

The 'to-do' list that my Lord gave us is, again, basically simple. One of the high priorities is teaching:

"¹¹ Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

"Go, therefore, ¹² 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 I have commanded you. ¹³ And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
(Matthew 28:18-20)

That's "teaching," not "verbally abusing." I've posted about malignant virtue, radio preachers, and why I became a Catholic, before. More topics. Lots more topics.

Job One for the Year of Faith

We're three weeks into the 'Year of Faith.' The New Evangelization is a major focus, which raises an good question:

"What is the New Evangelization?"
How We Teach, USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)

"The New Evangelization calls each of us to deepen our faith, believe in the Gospel message and go forth to proclaim the Gospel. The focus of the New Evangelization calls all Catholics to be evangelized and then go forth to evangelize. In a special way, the New Evangelization is focused on 're-proposing' the Gospel to those who have experienced a crisis of faith...."

That doesn't mean that I'm supposed to act as if I'm a spiritual hotshot, straightening out my 'inferiors.' Not even close.

Job one is to brush up on how I'm following my Lord:

"...The New Evangelization invites each Catholic to renew their relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church...."
("What is the New Evangelization?")

I should be doing that anyway, yet more topics.

More than Just Me

I'm just one man, about 1/7,000,000,000^th of the folks living today. What can I possibly do about reaching "all nations?"

There's the mustard seed thing:

"It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.

"⁷ But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.""
(Mark 4:31-32)

Besides, there's more to my faith than just me. So I'll keep working on my relationship with Jesus, learning more, and - for what it's worth - posting on this blog.

More:

• New Evangelization
  How We Teach, USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)
• Year of Faith at vatican.va
  • Home Page of the Year of Faith (English)
    
  • Home Page Annus Fidei (Italiano)
  • Página de inicio del Año de la Fe (Español)
  • Accueil de l'Année de la Foi (Français)

Related posts:

• Evangelization
  • "Year of Faith: Getting in Step With My Lord"
    (October 7, 2012)
  • "Evangelization, Belief, and the Common Cold"
    (September 30, 2012)
  • "Ignorance, Attitudes, and the Catholic Church"
    (September 2, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Clueless About Catholicism: An Old Tradition
    • Educated and Unaware
    • Curing Ignorance
    • 'My Mind's Made Up: Don't Confuse Me With the Facts'
  • "Annus Fidei/Year of Faith: New From the Vatican, Online"
    (June 22, 2012)
  • "Hope, Joy, and 'More Despondent Than Thou?' "
    (January 8, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Apocalypse Whenever
    • Oh Woe, All Ye Faithful?
    • Hope isn't Irresponsibility
    • Leibniz and Ehrlich
• Faith and works
  • "Faith, Belief: and a Really Good Role Model"
    (October 24, 2012)
  • "The Gospel According to Chicken Man"
    (July 1, 2012)
  • " 'Love Thy Neighbor:' Putting Faith Into Practice"
    (February 5, 2012)
  • "Faith, Works, and Spirituality for Dummkopfs"
    (October 5, 2011)
  • "Hope, Joy, and Working for a Better World"
    (September 13, 2011)