I feel the same.
I know that the Holy Spirit was with me even when I was a Protestant.
Nevertheless, I cannot believe that as Catholics we do not have an obligation to share our faith. Catholicism cannot be a “that works for me” type of religion.
As I was telling someone else, missionaries were sent to diverse countries to not only help build schools and relieve some poverty, but to preach the Gospel of the Living God. And many died for it.
What of them?
As you get older in the Catholic Church and as you read more about the Catholic perspective of Missiology, you’ll find that it’s both a pastoral and a scientific enterprise. The Catholic Church does not subscribe to the idea of going into a place to preach the Gospel by word alone. She never has and never will.
Social outreach is always the first step in Catholic Missiology. Our Catholic missionaries are often misrepresented, because people often write about the part that is attractive to the man in the pew. They leave out the rest. The fact is that they really preached through works.
I’ll give you three of my favorite Missionaries: Francis Xavier, Maximlian Kolbe and Mother Teresa.
Francis Xavier tried his hand at bringing Catholicism to the east as it was. He quickly fond that this was not going to work. He would later change his mind about the methodology and write back to Ignatius that they were totally wrong in their approach. He said, “We have to bring out the Catholic East, not transplant Catholic Europe.” From that time forward, the Jesuits put a lot of energy into living the Gospel in the context of the East, including using their language, even in liturgy. This was long before Vatican II. Gradually, they introduced things like Latin and other European Catholic elements.
Fast forward to the 1930s. Friar Maximilian is was sent to Japan and later to India as the superior of the Franciscans who were there. The first thing that he did was to order the friars to lay aside the Franciscan habit. He wrote a letter back to the superior in Poland in which he said, “Send the friars without habits. The habits have no use here. The only serve to reinforce the Japanese fear of European acculturation.” Later he sent another letter in which he asked for the best teachers, doctors and engineers that the Franciscans had. He said, “The Gospel is not going to be preached unless it’s preached as St. Francis preached, with few words and a great deal of love for the people.”
Then there is Mother Teresa. She taught us that the best way to preach the Gospel is to bring Christ’s love to the people and to find Jesus in them. As she went through her day to day contact with the people whom she served, she would speak about the Lord, offered to pray for them and with them. Gradually, they came to see Jesus as the driving force behind her incredible work. There is a wonderful story about a Hindu who saw her cleaning up the infested wounds of a leprosy patient. He said, “I wouldn’t do that for all the money in the world.” Mother quickly responded, “Neither would I. I do it for him,” and she pointed to a crucifix on the wall.
These are some examples of traditional Catholic missiology. The balance has to be found so that it does not become social work, but avoid it being Protestant proselytism either. It has to be service to Christ in his people in different settings, while showing them and explaining to them that it’s all done for Him.
There are actual courses that the Jesuits, Dominicans and Franciscans developed during the early 19th century based on their centuries of experience in the mission field. The examined their successes and their failures. They handed down to us the wisdom of their experience.
Today, any religious, deacon, priest or layman who is going to the mission field must first train in Missiology Methods and Practices before they go. It’s not just a matter of picking up a bible and catechism and going off.
The proof is in the great failure of the Evangelicals to keep converts in the developing countries. They went in with the idea of preaching. The people flocked to them, because they powerful, eloquent and impressive. Yet, a close look in the third world countries reveals that the door in Evangelical communities is like a revolving door at a mall. They don’t keep people for more than a few years. The people return to their original ways or back to Catholicism.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF :snowing:
