Some 1,000 Catholic faithful converged on the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi on Saturday, Jan. 12, to participate in the annual ministry conference of the Diocese of Corpus Christi. San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller told the faithful, “the Church exists to evangelize–that’s it.”
Archbishop Gustavo, as he prefers to be called, recently returned from a synod of bishops from throughout the world who met at the Vatican with Pope Benedict XVI to discuss the New Evangelization. The New Evangelization is aimed, Archbishop Gustavo said, at lapsed Catholics who have “drifted from their faith.”
Evangelization used to be a “scary word” for Catholics, the archbishop said. It was something other denominations did.
The Church, he said, has two evangelical missions. The first is the announcement of the Gospel to those who do not yet know Jesus Christ. The other is aimed at those baptized that have drifted away and live without reference to the Christian life.
“They know there is something missing, something bigger than themselves, something they care about,” Archbishop Gustavo said about these lapsed Catholics. “Religion is something they do without giving it any attention or meaning. In their pursuit of their faith they have not encountered Jesus Christ.”
Only Christ can quench their thirst, he said. Using John’s Gospel about the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well who believed Jesus was the Messiah and went out to tell others, Archbishop Gustavo said all Catholics need to be like the Samaritan woman and take the message of Jesus to their families and neighbors.
The archbishop lamented that Catholics do not share their faith, their encounters with Jesus with others. They go to retreats, missions, workshops and seminars, and then return home without giving any thought to sharing what they learned with others.
“We cannot just have a personal experience with Christ. That would be a lie or deficient. The encounter must be with Jesus Christ in the Church,” the archbishop said.
“We need to multiply the wells and offer an oasis in the desert of life” to our brothers and sisters who have strayed from their faith, he said.
“Evangelization is not new,” the archbishop said, “the newness of the New Evangelization is how we do it today in the context of those who have lost their way.”
He said the Sacred Scriptures are the central resource in carrying out the mission of the New Evangelization. The Scriptures are not intended just for Sundays, “we must draw on the Scriptures constantly, in all our daily needs,” Archbishop Gustavo said.
“We do not need to invent new strategies, we need to rediscover the word of Jesus Christ, the way of Jesus Christ,” the archbishop said. “Jesus already did it and his did it well. We need to rediscover His ways.”
The Church can carry out the mission of evangelization by using the same approaches Jesus used. People do not want to hear “pieces of doctrine” they are seeking for answers to their daily difficulties. They see the Christian faith as a list of rules and regulations that must be followed out of “obligation, fear and ignorance of the real world.”
It may not be easy to connect on a spiritual level but everyone has personal knowledge and experience on the human level, whether it is with the loss of a loved one, marriage, child rearing or work.
“Frequent reading of the Sacred Scriptures, illuminated by Church Tradition, helps us to discover opportunities, truly evangelical approaches rooted in the fundamentals of human life; family, work, friendship and trials of life,” the archbishop said.
In his homily in the Mass opening the conference, Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey warned participants to guard against the sins of ministry. He described these sins as lack of charity, careerism and competition.
“We must not allow the rules and regulations of our ministries to supersede charity,” Bishop Mulvey said.
He told those in attendance that they were all part of the Body of Christ, not just individual ministries. “We are called to a life of Communion,” the bishop said. “We must build wa spirit of communion, mutual love and mutual understanding.”
“As we refresh ourselves, we should reexamine ourselves,” Bishop Mulvey said.
The bishop said to those in attendance that while they should love their ministries, they must love Jesus Christ who is the object of those ministries. He encouraged them to welcome those who are not regular parishioners with love.
The conference provided participants a number of workshops aimed at helping them in carrying out their ministries in service to the Church. This year, the conference included a special track for youth.
Former NFL football player Chris Horn was the keynote speaker for the Youth Track. He told the youth that they had been given a gift of faith and that they should “grow and share this gift with a firm attitude.”
Bishop Mulvey commissioned or re-commissioned 28 catechists at the conference. Those commissioned included, Mary Arnold, Gloria Grace Cantu, Maria Elena Crawford, Jamie Marie Daniel, Mary Ellen Galvan, Sylvia Mendoza Garcia, Mary V. Gonzalez, Sister Bernadette Mangila, OP, Delia M. Martinez, Angela Kristy Mincey, Katherine Lucio Orines, Sister Agueda Oviedo, Sister Eliza Santiago, OP, Hector Soza, Katheryn Teresa Tackett, Rachel G. Trevino, Debbie Ann Unterbrink, Elizabeth Anne Vasquez and Janey B. Wilkins.
Re-commissioned were Linda Lou Anderson, Cindy Bunch, Diana Maria Gonzales, Josephine “Josie” Kaufmann, Barbara Jo Lamson, David Charles Mason, Sister Esperanza Seguban, OP, Sarah Cruse Smith and Sister Amor Maravilla Vigare, OP