Evangelizing Our Culture
Mark S. Roberti, Director of Stewardship
Heartland Parishes of Ellis County

In a nutshell, I believe the Church’s primary problem today is that rather than Christians forming our culture from within, the culture is forming us. This is especially true in America and the West. Over the last forty years we’ve lost significant ground in the culture war. Many, many Catholics are now American first and Catholic second. That’s the reason most of those who have left the Church have done so. They never really had a mature Catholic faith. Either they were never fed on "solid foods" or they did not digest it properly. Instead, television and our secular culture guided them in the formation of their faith and consciences.

Pope Benedict’s prayer intention for the month of October was: "That Christians may not be discouraged by the attacks of secularized society, but with complete trust maybe bear witness to their faith and hope." There are actually three ways people can respond when they are attacked. The first two are obvious. They can fight back or they can capitulate. The third response, they can do nothing.   Although less obvious, this is actually the most frequent response.  It is also most pernicious to our families and our faith.

Now you might say, how can people do nothing when they are attacked? Because this is not a physical attack, it’s a spiritual attack. They do nothing because they are often oblivious to its nature. They have essentially been mesmerized by the culture. Most of us, to a greater or lesser extent, have bought into the "ims" of our day, the materialism, the consumerism, the individualism, of our culture. The process of secularization of Christianity has been so gradual that many Catholics and Christian are steeped in it without even knowing.

Pretty soon, we are espousing worldly value while proclaiming ourselves Christian. We desire the "freedoms," conveniences, and pleasures of this world while also wanting to hold on to a faith in Christ and the next life. Where the Church interferes with these world values, She is wrong. "She’s out of step with the real world."

This is dangerous. It’s dangerous both in both this life and in our quest for eternal salvation. God is eternal. God’s truth is, likewise, eternal.  Eternal truths do not change. As Catholics, we need to recognize, value, and promote those truths.

God gives us each a free will, something which even He, Himself, does not tread upon. But with freedom always comes responsibility. Freedom does not mean having the right to do we want to do. Freedom is the right to do what we "ought" to do. Freedom without responsibility leads to chaos. It results in sin. It results in a misuse of our free will. It results in a hedonistic society which ultimately collapses. It can result in the lose of eternal salvation. These are very, very, serious matters we discuss today.

Praise God, there is wonderful movement in the opposite direction too. But this a "tug of war" and we each need to get on the right side of the rope. We have to turn the direction of our culture around. We need to infuse our culture with Christian values again. We must evangelize our culture!

This is not work simply for men with collars or women with habits. It is a job for every single Catholic – every single Christian – no matter what his or her walk in life. In the Vatican II document "Gaudium et Spes[Joy and Hope]: The Church in the Modern World," the faithful are told to be leaven for the world. It is our job, the laity, to get in all the nooks and crannies of the world so as to cleanse and renew it. Certainly, it even more so the work of the Holy Spirit. He provide the superabundant grace to make it happen. But we need to responsive to that grace to make it happen. Otherwise, it is wasted grace.

I’d like to suggest a way. It’s a simple mantra we have all heard: "Just say no." Be alert and be willing to make a stand each time it’s necessary. If someone says something that is contrary to the teachings of the Church, just say no. Simply say, "I disagree with you." Be bold enough to say, "I think that’s a sin," or "I believe you are thinking wrongly."

If you are challenged in your belief, you simply need to say that’s what the Catholic Church teaches. You see, sin is still sin, no matter what anybody else calls it. Pope John Paul II encouraged us to call evil by name. Evil exposed is evil weakened and ultimately destroyed. Rest assured that when you proclaim the teachings of the Catholic Church, whether you understand them fully or not, you will be proclaiming the truth. You will be evangelizing the culture.

Although you and I are not theologians, when we proclaim the Church’s teachings we are relying on the greatest theologians in the history of the world -- past and present – to guide us. More important, even than that, we are relying on the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught the apostles, What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you lose on early will loose in heaven." (Cf. Mt 16:18 and 18:16)

If you, yourself, disagree with a Church teaching, you need read the related Church teachings on that topic. First read the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The footnotes will direct you to other sources. Mark my words, you will be convinced. If not, you have not read all the related Church documents. The Church’s arguments are compelling. If read objectively and prayerfully, the only thing that could prevent you from understanding them would be your own pridefullness and sinfulness. I say that honestly, not disparagingly, as someone who was once there himself.

Let’s remember Pope Benedict’s prayer intention: "That Christians may not be discouraged by the attacks of secularized society, but with complete trust maybe bear witness to their faith and hope." Let’s pray, let’s trust in God, and let’s bear witness to our culture. Let’s be good stewards...let’s evangelize our culture from the inside out.