Summit speakers offer guidance on evangelization

Hundreds of people who gathered for the Diocese of Columbus Evangelization Leadership Summit, held at Ohio Dominican University on Nov. 11, were sent forth on mission to proclaim God’s glory.

The summit featured keynote addresses from Bishop Earl Fernandes; Dr. Marlon De La  Torre, the senior director of the diocesan Department of Evangelization; Father John Riccardo, a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit and founder of Acts XXIX ministry; and Tim Glemkowski, the chief executive officer of the National Eucharistic Congress.

“Proclaim God’s Glory,” the theme of the summit, was an invitation for Catholics, especially those who work in parishes , to be witnesses to the joy of the Gospel and bring Christ to each person they encounter. The keynote speakers offered practical tips for proclaiming the Gospel, as well as the need for each person to be firmly rooted in prayer.

The day began with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Fernandes in honor of the feast of St. Martin of Tours, a French bishop and soldier. After Mass, Bishop Fernandes offered the first keynote, “Evangelization in the Diocese of Columbus.”

He spoke of the New Evangelization, which Pope St. John Paul II called for in 1983 and Pope Benedict XVI described as being synonymous with mission.

Bishop Fernandes said evangelization begins in the family, and “every vocation is born in the family.” The Catholic Church is made up of domestic churches and families who play a critical role in evangelization. People are sent forth from their families on mission to proclaim the good news of salvation.

The bishop recalled the words of Pope Francis, who, when elected pope, said he dreams of the Church as a “missionary Church.” He said the Church needs to go forth, out of her comfort zone, to the peripheries of the world.

Bishop Fernandes said the mission of evangelization is a collective effort. It is not limited to the responsibility of the bishop. He said priests and deacons are the bishop’s coworkers in the mission, but the laity also need to be evangelizers.

The bishop recognized that Catholics live in a secularized society, which, he said, is mission territory. Columbus is projected to have a million people moving here in the next 10 years, he said, and all of those people will need Jesus Christ.

Bishop Fernandes described evangelization as something that needs to be recognized as “normal.” 

He said Catholics have lost their missionary impulse, and the last two to three generations have forgotten how to evangelize. It should be normal for Catholics to go door to door, speaking about Jesus Christ and sharing the Gospel message.

Following the bishop, De La Torre spoke about unveiling the truth of Jesus Christ. Everyone is seeking intimacy with Christ, he said, but they do not know it.

He said that people should be attracted by what Catholics have to offer. Catholics should offer something attractive and beautiful, and their speech should be convincing and compelling to others.

He said Catholics should ask themselves: Am I joyful to listen to? If they are joyful, then people will want to know how and why they live a certain way.

As evangelizers, he said, people need to unveil the divine not human. Evangelists should be people who unveil beauty, truth and goodness.

“He’ll use anyone at any time to unveil that beauty,” De La Torre said.

A person should be so enraptured by what they are encountering – truth, beauty and goodness – in another person that they surrender to God and allow the Lord to have complete ownership of their soul, he said.

De La Torre said people are not going to be attracted to divine revelation or a ministry, but they will be attracted to a person.

For this reason, evangelizers need to use “attractive language.” He said they should echo the “language of the cross,” reflecting Christ and joyfully bearing their cross, which will attract others.

De La Torre discussed parish catechesis and the importance of having one-on-one encounters with individuals. He said a person needs to be introduced to “a love that never ends,” and it will take time.

In the afternoon, Father Riccardo spoke about restoring the initiative of evangelization to God. He said many people spend time brainstorming best practices or the next steps.

Father Riccardo, who has been a priest for 27 years, said people, instead, need to rely on God and trust Him. He said most people have “worldly minds with Catholic patches,”  and they have “squeezed” themselves into the world’s way of thinking.

Many people make their own plans and ask God to bless what they are doing, he said. He recalled wasting time trying to figure out what to do rather than praying about it.

Father Riccardo said people need to acquire a biblical worldview. God has a plan, and it is the work of His people to listen to the voice of God and discern His plan. He said God speaks to people in different ways.

When it comes to work in parishes, he said, prayer has become an “agenda item” in a meeting, but in reality, prayer should set the agenda. The Apostles and saints prayed to know what to do, he said, not merely before doing something.

He encouraged those who work in parishes to spend time in prayer together. He said they should collectively discern what God is speaking to them. Each person should share what they heard, and the leader should share last, so what he says does not influence the group.

The leader’s task is to discern what the Lord is saying in prayer. He said the point is not for the leader to drive to a consensus, but rather, to continue to seek clarity from the Lord.

Father Riccardo said the Holy Spirit will talk to, direct and lead people. He described the  Church as a sailboat, and it is Catholics’ work to “hoist the sail” and trust that the Spirit will guide them.

Parishes and ministries should not operate as a rowboat, he said, in which people do all the work themselves, and their arms become tired from rowing. The Church could be likened to a sailboat because Her people need to rely on God and trust Him to do the work, rather than themselves.

Father Riccardo also encouraged those who work in parishes not to use the word “staff.” He said it is a corporate term and is insulting. He reminded those gathered that they have one teacher and one Father in heaven. Therefore, “family” is a more appropriate term.

He recalled the Bible verse Hebrews 11:8: “By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

Father Riccardo asked those gathered to consider what is holding them back from walking “through that door.” He said it could be a fear of the unknown or fear of failure, or it could be because it might be a hardship or a challenge.

People get the “exhilaration of discipleship,” Father Riccardo said, but are they willing to leave the familiar behind to walk through that door?

He said the Gospel is hard, and Jesus’ commands are hard. Although a person might not know where God is calling them, everybody is called to obey, trust and allow themselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit.

The final keynote speaker of the summit, Glemkowski, spoke about the Eucharistic Revival that is currently taking place in the Church. The revival began in 2021 and will conclude with a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July 2024.

Glemkowski, who lives in Littleton, Colorado with his wife and children, said the congress is an initiative that is meant to address the crisis of faith or unbelief in the Church. He said the aim is to bring revival to God’s Church through the Eucharist.

He told those gathered at the summit that they are living in a time of crisis, a time of hurt, pain and brokenness. He told the audience that they are God’s answer to the crisis.

People are desperately broken, he said. Many live in despair and are tempted to leave the Church because they have no hope.

He said that revival is a divine invitation. It is a sovereign act of God in response to prevailing prayer, and it is not a project or a program.

Glemkowski told the audience that, before they are called to do anything, God seeks to move within them. He said that they must simply “be” and allow God to work in them before they “act.”

He said Jesus was sent by the Father to bring His people back to Him. “God is on the move to bring about renewal,” he said, and Jesus is not on mission alone.

Glemkowski said one of the easiest things to do in the spiritual life is plateau . He said every person is called to be transformed and be who God created them to be, which is found in the Eucharist.

When Catholics receive the Eucharist, Glemkowski said, God calls them by name and tells them who they are. In receiving the Eucharist, people are broken open. They imitate Jesus Who was broken open and sacrifices Himself at each Mass.

Jesus gave up everything to bring God’s people back, he said, and people need to “surrender from the core of our being.” If there is going to be a renewal and revival, Glemkowski said, it will be through repentance.

Recalling the words of writer C.S. Lewis , he said many people today are “half-hearted,” but the world is aching for full-hearted creatures who have given everything to God.