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What is attraction, and how does it play a role in evangelization?
BY DR. JEFF ANDRINI, OFFICE OF EVANGELIZATION AND DISCIPLESHIP
“The Church grows,” writes Pope Francis, “not by proselytism [i.e. forced conversion] but by attraction.” This much-repeated phrase by the pope expresses concisely and forcefully his vision for the Church and its mission in the world.
Is God “attractive” to contemporary people? The answer is absolutely! Our God calls humanity to experience abundant life. In the book of Isaiah 40:1-2, and 11, Yahweh says, “Comfort, give comfort to my people, speak tenderly and proclaim, her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs.” These expressions of tenderness, mercy and loving care are again manifest in the person of Jesus and we see our Lord reaching out to the margins and welcoming people into the reign of God, especially those with no power and no voice in society. To a hurting, frightened and estranged world, the Gospel is the good news that God cares and is walking with us. Life to the full is offered in a relationship with a God, who unconditionally loves each of us. That is indeed an attractive idea in our world, which is all too accustomed to conditional love. And more than just an idea, the power of the Holy Spirit is real and waiting for us to ask for what we need.
Is the Church attractive? Now the Church is “the people of God,” but for a moment consider that to many people, the word “church” means more than just the people. What might people who are not members of the Catholic Church think of? It is fair to say that it might not all be positive and we have some public relations work to do in this area. In fact, you might go as far to say we need a “culture change” in our Church to reflect a more attractive attitude and disposition to the world. In fact, among our members currently, for every one person who joins the Catholic Church, six are leaving. There is a mass exodus and something needs to be done. Attraction starts with a smile and a warm welcome to all people. It comes by being transparent, kind and interested in meeting the needs of others. We can work harder at being an attractive Church – and our mission of evangelization demands that we focus our energy in doing so.
Do we have a message that attracts? Hmmm. When others meet us, do they see how much we love God and how our lives, which is our message, model the life and love of God? Does our joyful and loving disposition reveal to them that Catholics have something special within them which reflect God’s love?
The wonderful challenge that Pope Francis is putting before us is to focus on our core mission as a Church. The very mission of Yahweh in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament, whereby, we are called to participate in the reign of God, by being God’s presence to all we meet. As we grow as disciples of Jesus, we are transformed into being fully alive through being in right relationship with God. This transformation is real and in a world in darkness, we reflect the bright light of our attractive God.
Pope St. Paul VI said, “The Church exists to evangelize.” That was 50 years ago, so evangelization is not so new. What is new is that we understand “attraction” as a necessary part of our evangelization efforts.
Peace in Christ,
Jeff
Dr. Jeff Andrini is the director of the Office of Evangelization and Discipleship. Please send comments to [email protected].
Originally printed in the February 2021 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.