Little Flower Parish at 204 1st St. N.W., Browning, MT 59417 US - Christ Is Counting On Us

(The Resurection of Jesus-- Stained Glass window in Little Flower Church)

DE LA SALLE BLACKFEET SCHOOL PROJECT By Fr. Ed Kohler March 4, 2002 EVANGELIZATION TODAY One can easily understand how Catholic education can be a perfect environment for evangelization, not only for the child, but also for the parents, and indeed the whole parish community-- that is, if it is done. A while back I had the opportunity to visit with a religious order priest who was chaplain to a Catholic high school located on the east coast. I was struck by the depth of his faith and opened up to him easily concerning some of my views about Catholic education. He shared with me that the high school where he worked was located in a middle class area and that the student body population was only about 40% Catholic. He stated that the school had to back away from evangelization of the students because the students came from so many faith backgrounds. I surprised us both when I spontaneously responded, "What a waste of your vocation to priesthood and religious life!" He asked me what would I do given the nature of that school. Again to my surprise I stated, "I would sell that school for one dollar to those wealthy and influential people who want their own private politically correct school. I would leave that place and go out and fulfill my vocation by proclaiming Jesus Christ with every breath I took." One of the consequences of the Secular Revolution, which began in the late 1960s, was that Catholic educators lost their vision of the faith. We were all effected by the times. I grant you that the dust is beginning to clear and in some quarters the vision is being recaptured, but obviously not in all our Catholic schools. It is in capturing the vision of the faith and its importance, not only to us, but also to God, that would motivate us as a church to do good Catholic evangelization. We as Catholics seem to want to take our faith as a given, then build on that. But as is recorded in the Old Testament, and the New Testament, God could never take our faith for granted because we humans were so easily directed away from it, as is again proven in these years that followed the Secular Revolution. From the very beginning the true God has been trying to make His voice heard above all the other voices clamoring for attention. Saint Paul states in Ephesians 6:12 that "Our battle is not against human forces but against principalities and powers, the rulers of this world of darkness, the evils spirits in regions above." These principalities and powers want to be heard and in some cases they want to be crowned as a god. They are trying to make their wills known to us humans and too often they are being heard and followed. Think of Nazi Germany, or the Communist Revolution, and then the Secular Revolution. The battle is real. Understanding this battle motivates us to evangelize, that is, to make the voice of the one true God heard above the din. Assuredly the Kingdom of God will be established, and God's people will join the angels of heaven to share in eternal life, but who will gain heaven is not a given. The principalities and powers in the world of darkness hate God and His plan and are working hard to make their voices heard over the voice of the one true God. They want to destroy the voice of God in the world. And many are listening to that evil voice. Jesus, in Saint Luke's Gospel Chapter 18:1-8, tells the parable of the corrupt judge who responds to the demands of a widow. He ends the parable at verse 7 by saying, "Will not God then do justice to His chosen who call out to Him day and night? Will He delay long over them, do you suppose? I tell you, He will give them swift justice. But when the son of Man comes, will He find any faith in earth?" This is a real concern of Jesus. Will there be faith on earth when he comes again? Jesus is counting on us to make Him known, and to do this we must enter into the battle. Tradition has it that at the beginning of time, when God created the angels, Lucifer rebelled against the plan of God. Lucifer hated the idea that the Word of God, the Son of God, the Word made Flesh would be supreme in glory out shining Lucifer himself. Lucifer, now Satan, was thrown from the Kingdom of God and has been fighting the plan of God ever since. To effectively evangelize it is helpful to understand the nature of that battle. The Old Testament is a theological presentation of the battle. By the time of Abraham hardly anyone knew the one true God. The peoples of the earth worshipped many Gods. In fact the more gods one worshipped the more powerful that person was considered to be. It would be a mistake to believe that these stone idols did not have some spiritual backing. I am sure that each idol had a spirit behind it trying to find a following so as to lead people according to its own will and away from the one true god. This is the nature of the battle. Abraham found himself living in a land that worshipped many gods. However he heard the voice of the one true God and he believed. So in Chapter 12 of Genesis the Lord God called Abraham out of that land of many gods. God wanted to form a people who would listen only to His voice. He would be their God and they would be His people. He would change their hearts and teach them His ways. Finally He would send His Son, who would be His perfect voice. This Son Jesus, the Word of God, would teach them, forgive them their sins, justify them, and raise them up to be sons and daughters of God. With the call to Abraham the battle between God and Satan took on a new dimension. The principalities and powers in the world of darkness set out to destroy the voice of God on earth by trying to destroy the people of God. The whole Old and New Testament are filled with stories about this battle. In the first instance there are many stories of different tribes and nations, I believe inspired by evil spirits, that came to literally kill the people who followed the voice of the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and the Father of Jesus. (This litany of God's name is a scriptural title given to us so as to focus our attention and identify our God's voice. Some people say that everyone worships the same God. If that were true then their god should be saying the same things as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and the Father of Jesus. If not it’s a different voice, and not the same god. Our God's voice is clear and consistent.) I find it very shocking to realize that the last major killing of God's people took place in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia just a short time ago. The other major tactic of Satan and his followers has been to turn the hearts of the people of God away from the will of God. Both the Old and the New Testament are filled with stories telling how the people hardened their hearts against God. In the New Testament we learn about the influence of Satan. Jesus, in announcing The Kingdom of God, called the people to repentance, and even delivered many from the influence of Satan. I am sure that Satan and his followers thought that they would silence this voice of God by killing Jesus. Because that did not work the battle continues to this very day. It is shocking to realize how many Christian people have today turned away from the voice of God as a consequence of the Secular Revolution. Evangelization is the task of making known the one true God. His voice is Jesus Christ. Evangelization means to make Jesus known as God's only Son, the Word of God, who perfectly reveals the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Evangelization teaches people to listen to Jesus, and to follow Him. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father but through Him, Jesus, the savior of the world. When we do this we enter the battle and literally experience Satan opposing our work. Will there be faith on earth when Jesus comes again? There will be only if we take this battle seriously and do the work necessary to make Jesus Christ known in the world. Christ is counting on us to do this using all the wit and wisdom He has given us. History has shown that one of the most effective evangelization tools we have is our Catholic schools-- if they do their work. Everything they do should lead our students closer to Jesus Christ and help push back the secular voice of the world. It should be the best work they do. I praise God that our people here on the Blackfeet Reservation are being blessed with our new De La Salle Blackfeet Middle School. I pray every day that our Lord Jesus will make it something that gives glory to Him, and that he protect it and make it grow. If you are interested in our parish or our school project please see our web site: http://LittleFlowerParish.Catholicweb.com. If you would like to help us financially you can write us at Little Flower Parish, P.O. Box 529, Browning Montana, 59417. We pray for our benefactors. Please feel free to copy this article and share it with others.

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