Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebrated By Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Sunday, 25th June, 2006, at 11.00am

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his own life Jesus confronted the elements and emerged victorious over the grave.

His power over the elements reminds us of the power of Jesus in our lives and the call that each of us has to share in that life that he offers.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In today’s Gospel we have just marvelled at the power of Jesus over the elements and his invitation to us to have faith. The last three Popes have spoken to us all in the Church, lay as well as priestly and religious, emphasising the value of each person and the contribution that each of us makes to the spreading of the Word of God.

Our Lord’s own words, asking the apostles to preach the Gospel to every creature and assuring the Church of his presence, is a stark reminder of the part that all of us have to play.

Every one of us – young or old, highly educated or not - are all followers of Jesus Christ. When we use the word evangelisation we speak of drawing people to encounter Jesus’ Gospel in a personal way.

The old evangelisation was making converts to the faith, teaching them about Jesus, about our doctrines and practices, and once the person is baptised or received into the Church the work of evangelisation is done and they are passed over to the parish. However, we know that the reality is greatly different. Vast numbers of converts were evangelised like this, but many of them did not remain active, vibrant members of our faith. Christian countries have become nominally Christian or even post-Christian.

Pope Paul VI spoke of the need for a re-evangelisation that would respond to the new challenges created for the Church by the world of today. We must go on with the old evangelisation, attracting converts, teaching, baptising, increasing the number of Church members, but our goal in the new evangelisation is completing the mission of Christ and revitalising the members of the Church by leading those who do not know Jesus intimately into a personal and intimate relationship with him.

Note that the process of conversion begins not with someone who does not already know Christ, but with people like us who already claim to be his follower. All of us need further conversion and we cannot bring others to know Christ until we know him better ourselves. So the focus is deeper meeting with Christ and conversion to him.

In our lives there are dark corners where the Gospel has not yet penetrated and we must begin by seeking out those corners and allowing the light of the Gospel to be shed on them.

We have to continue our focus to come closer to Christ and to draw others with us. “Not all are called to go to foreign missions, engage in street preaching or seek out non-Christians for conversion. But we are all called to evangelise one another – friends, acquaintances, family members, fellow Catholics and fellow Christians.” Those who have no training in the faith do need the Gospel and catechesis. Those who have drifted away need us to welcome them back and in each phase the goal is to know Christ better and to allow a personal familiarity with him.

Because it is reaching out and bringing a deeper experience of Christ, in our lives there has to be a deeper search through prayer and Scripture. It is the role of the laity by example and word and encouragement to work in evangelisation in the home, the workplace, the parish, the school, and political and social arenas.

Indeed, the Lord is challenging us to implement the Gospel of Jesus in new ways, looking at life and the problems that we have now. It is a responsibility that does not belong to any one group of persons within the Church, but to every baptised member. It is the role of every Catholic person and community to provide, nurture and support, outreach and healing, invitation and welcome to the people who make up the society in which they live.

Each of us can be a vigorous contributor. We can help to foster religious experience, to learn how to pray, as the light and strength of living Catholicism moves through us into our society. New evangelisation is about the ongoing conversion of those who already in some way have been introduced to Christ, founded on prayer, challenged by example and ever deepening lived faith.

We too, as the apostles, can be filled with awe and say of Jesus, “Who can this be? Even the wind and sea obey him!” (Mark 4:41)

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.