GO...PROCLAIM!

"And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news' " (Rom 10: 15). This is what St. Paul said about the proclamation of the Word of God. To lead the people to true belief the Evangelist and evangelization are necessary even today. You must read the word of God, imbibe the message in these words and practice the Word of God in your life. That does not end our obligation. We must proclaim and share the good news we have received for the evangelization of others. We can do this through printing of the Bible and its distribution, and the dissemination of books, magazines, cassettes, feature-documentary-serial films, plays, paintings and TV channels that have the Spirit of the Word of God. But the most desirable method is the proclamation of the Word of God. Let us discuss some of the points; the Evangelist should bear in mind.

1. Prayer: In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul says, "Pray also for me, so that when I speak a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel" (Eph. 6:19). " At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison" (Col. 4:3). Prayer imparts strength to the Evangelist and evangelization. Therefore, pray fervently before God for strength to proclaim the Word of God. Intercessory prayer is also very helpful.
2. Proclaim only the word of God: St. Paul says, " For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal 1: 11-12).
3. Proclaim the word of God trusting in the Holy Spirit: St. Paul says, "Because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction" (1 Thes 1:5).
4. Proclaim the Word of God mingling with the listeners: "For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, 'To an unknown God'. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of everything in it, he who is the Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, as though he needed anything... at that point Paul left them. But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius, the Areopagite and the woman named Damaris and others with them" (Acts 17:23-34). "To the weak I became weak so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings" (I Cor9:22-23)
5. Proclaim the gospel without looking for a reward. Proclamation of the gospel is one's duty- It should not be for a reward, "If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: That in my proclamation I make the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel" (1Cor.9:16-18).
6. Give the gospel of friendship: The foremost aim of the Evangelist is the conversion of the people. "And through him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in Heaven, by making peace through the blood of His son" (Col 1:20). "For the love of Christ urges us on, because they are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them - so we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entrust you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor 5:14-20).
7. Take up on yourself all sufferings and proclaim the word of God: You should not lose heart even in the midst of severe sufferings and proclaim the gospel without losing your self confidence. " But though we had already suffered and been shamefully maltreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God, to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition" (1 Thes 2:2). "Yet whatever gains I had these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I might gain Christ" (Phil3:7-8).
8. Proclaim the gospel as servants and orderlies: "For you are still of the flesh, for as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving according to human inclination? For when one says, 'I belong to Paul' and another' I belong to Apollus' are you not merely humans? What then is Apollus? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollus watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose and each will receive according to the labour of each. For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building" (1Cor 3:3-9). "For we do not proclaim ourselves, we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor 4:5).
9. Life itself is proclamation of gospel: Persons who preach the word of God must live according to the teachings. Then their life itself will turn into a proclamation of the gospel. "But I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others, I myself should not be disqualified" (1 Cor 9:27). "Brothers and sisters join in imitating me and observe those who live according to the example you have in us" (Phil 3:17). "You then that teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing do you steal? You that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you rob temples? You that boast in the law do you dishonour God by breaking the law?" ( Rom 2: 21-23)
10. Humility, goodness and simple living: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves - and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2: 3-4). "Put to death therefore whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry)- In that renewal there is neither Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, Barbarian, Scythian, slave and free, but Christ is all and in all"( Col 3: 5-11). " And whatever you do in word or deed do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Col 3:17).

Dear friends, we have so far thought about the proclamation of the Word of God. Let us grow up as a community, proclaiming and living in the spirit of the gospel. The awareness about God springs from firm belief and meditation, fixing your eyes unflinchingly on the crucified Christ. Proclamation of the gospel without prayer is worthless. At least some of the so-called Evangelists are misinterpreting the Word of God. Yet others try to proclaim their own individual perceptions and imaginations as gospel truth. "I did not send the prophets yet they went; I did not speak to them yet they prophesied" ( Jer 23:21). "But even if we or an angel from heaven proclaimed to you a gospel contrary to the one we proclaim to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before so now I repeat, if any one proclaims to you a gospel, contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!" (Gal 1:8-9). Some, after indulging themselves in all sorts of sinful activities and worldly pleasures, go from house to house holding the Bible in their armpits, proclaiming the Word of God. "You must understand this, that in the last days, distressing times will come for people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers,…but they will not make much progress, because as in the case of those two men, their folly will become plain to everyone" (2Tim 3 1-9). Yet others turn the proclamation of the gospel into flattery to earn wealth. To entertain the listeners they say false stories about miracles and events from their imagination and proclaim the gospel. The gospel should be proclaimed with the power of God and the strength derived from God. "Yet among the mature, we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish… These things God has revealed to us through the spirit: For the spirit searches everything, even the depths of God." (1 Cor 2: 6-10). Some try to make money by proclaiming the gospel and pretending deep faith, "and wrangling among those who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that Godliness is a means of gain… for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains" (1Tim 6: 5-10). Some have turned the Word of God as a tradable commodity. They have brought out cheap books, cassettes, holy objects and pilgrimages in the name of God as a business. "For we are not peddlers of God's word like so many, but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence" (2 Cor 2:17). Staying in 5 stars hotels, travelling in imported limousines, ostentatious illuminations and very loud sound systems; some preach the word in the presence of lakhs of people, and collect crores of rupees, but most of those present are Catholics! We see intense competition and rivalry among these groups of evangelists. Some march forward by making their own religious groups and conducting retreats. They proclaim a gospel totally opposed to the real word of God. Those who preach the Word of God must live and work according to the true spirit of the gospel. They must fulfil the responsibilities and obligations entrusted to them by God. Some of those 'true evangelists' who work and live for the gospel are satans in their own home. Some of them have no acceptance in their own village or town. Others have no roots or relationship in their community. Some like to travel frequently to foreign countries to preach the gospel. It will be beneficial for them to think of many who are seeking the right way in their own state/country. Various religious groups should read their own life as the fifth gospel. Life dedicated in the framework of the gospel is the highest form of proclamation and testimony. With the grace of God we have enough priests, laymen and dedicated people in our Catholic community in India, who live life according to the teachings of the Word, and proclaim the gospel in its true spirit. We must recognize those priests and laymen who live in difficult circumstances and preach the word of God in mission areas. We pray that all those who preach the Word of God may be like Saint Ephraim who was the music of the Holy Spirit, and St. Anthony who was the tongue of the Holy Spirit.

FR. GEORGE KUZHUPALLY