Our hopes, dreams, joys, fears, frustrations and hurts all come together and are fulfilled in Jesus
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
As I write this, the conclave to elect a new pope has not yet begun — though, by the time you read this, we may have a new Holy Father. At least we can be united in prayer around that!
Meanwhile, here’s something that can hold our attention no matter what’s happening with the conclave: In this week’s reading, we hear St. Paul give one of his first big speeches about salvation in Jesus (see Acts 13).
I think it’s important to reflect on how he goes about proclaiming the Gospel. He provides a short account of the history of Israel — a kind of executive summary. Then he shows how the various threads of that history come together and are fulfilled in Jesus. That approach allows him to conclude by saying: “We ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you, that what God promised to our fathers He has brought to fulfillment for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.”
We might call this the “fulfillment” method of evangelization. It’s a model we might think about using ourselves! (It’s not the only model, to be sure! But it’s an important one.)
To use the fulfillment method, St. Paul had to know the history of ancient Israel. That allowed him to show how the hopes and dreams and joys and fears and frustrations of ancient Israel came together in Jesus.
If we’re going to use the model well, we have to know a person’s story. And here’s an evangelization tip: We don’t get to know a person’s story by telling them how much we know! We get to know it by asking good questions about their lives. Then, when we know more about their story, we can begin to show a person how their hopes, dreams, joys, fears, frustrations and hurts all come together and are fulfilled in Jesus and how their lives can be more fulfilled by following Him.
In John 10, Jesus says: “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved.” And in John 14, Jesus says: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” The “through me” is important. It shows that there’s just no way around the Jesus question!
Jesus says: “The Father and I are one.” Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Him by nature — that’s the basic truth concerning Christian thinking about God. Jesus also says: “Remain in my love … I have told you this so that my joy might be in you.” Jesus is in us and we are in Him by grace — that’s the basic truth concerning Christian thinking about salvation.
Someone might ask: So what? Well, here’s an important difference: Jesus can’t help but remain in the Father — it’s automatic. We, on the other hand, can choose to remain in Jesus or not.
When we choose to live apart from Jesus, the threads of our life — our hopes and fears, our joys and frustrations — fall apart. Most of us know what that’s like! When we choose to live in Jesus all those threads come together. That doesn’t make life easy! But it makes life fulfilling.
Whether we’re celebrating or awaiting the election of a new pope, we can learn something from St. Paul’s approach to evangelization. Let’s talk about how our own histories are fulfilled in Christ, and let’s help other people see how their lives can be fulfilled in Christ.
