Go Into The Whole World And Proclaim The Gospel To Every Creature

Bearing witness to Christ and his Church is the primary mission of the Christian disciple. Pope St. John Paul II noted that intentional and regular participation in the salvific mission of Christ constitutes the deepest level of conversion in a person.

By Deacon Frederick Bartels
13 May 2018

In this Ascension Sunday’s gospel (Mk 16:15-20) we hear Jesus say these parting words to his disciples: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark tells us that after Jesus spoke to his disciples, he “was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.”

In the first reading from Acts (1:1-11), we learn that Jesus advised his disciples “not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for ‘the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’” Jesus then states, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Before I reflect on Mark’s gospel and Jesus’ imperative command to “Go,” I want to share a story I came across at epriest.com while I was preparing for my homily. It is about a Catholic missionary who was preaching in the square of a village in North India. As he finished, a Muslim gentleman approached him and said:

“You must admit we have one thing you have not, and it is better than anything you have.”

The missionary smiled and said, “I should be pleased to hear what it is.”

The Muslim went on, “You know, that when we go to Mecca we find at least a coffin. But when you Christians go to Jerusalem, your Mecca, you find nothing but an empty grave.”

The Missionary replied, “Ah ha! But that’s just it, and it makes all the difference. Mohammad, the founder of Islam, is dead, and he is in his coffin. But our Leader has risen from the dead and returned to heaven.”

Jesus’ Ascension

After the resurrected and glorified Jesus appeared to his disciples for forty days (Acts 1:3), he ascended into heaven as high priest (Eph 1:20, Heb 4:14) where he offers to the Father the perfect and infinite redemptive sacrifice of his body and blood. “Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). From the heavenly realm, Jesus communicates his Spirit into the hearts of the faithful and reigns as head of the Church which is his body (Eph 1:22-23).

What a marvelous gift! All praise and glory to Jesus Christ!

Back to the gospel. Three main elements stand out. First, Jesus gives the imperative command, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” This speaks to the concept of apostolic succession in the Church since the disciples present when Jesus ascended into heaven couldn’t possibly fulfill that command in their lifetime. In fact, we’re still working on it! The Church continues to proclaim the gospel to every creature. Recent studies show there are about 2.2 billion Christians in the world, with 50% of those being Catholic. That leaves another 5 billion people who need to hear the gospel (in addition to secular Christians who have drifted away from it).

Apostolic Succession

What is apostolic succession? It is the handing on of the sanctifying power of Christ from the apostles to their successors (CCC 1087), the bishops of the Church from past to those present today. By virtue of the power of the Holy Spirit, apostolic succession guarantees the fullness of revealed truth is handed on to all generations with complete integrity. It builds up the Church through the sanctifying activities of the bishops and their delegates: priests and deacons. Apart from this Spirit-guided process which takes place via the sacrament of Holy Orders, the divine revelation given to the apostles would certainly have suffered significant corruption over time.

Let’s look at a second element of the gospel that stands out. Why is preaching the gospel so critical? Jesus tells us, “Whoever believes [in the gospel] and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

That speaks to the profound importance of preaching and the sacrament of baptism. In the past, Catholics would have their children baptized as infants, as soon as feasibly possible, often when they were only a few days or perhaps a week or two old. Today, things have changed for the worse. Many Catholics see no urgency in having a priest or deacon baptize their children. They often wait months or, more often, years—if they have them baptized at all.

Many of our Protestant brethren celebrate “dedication” ceremonies postponing baptism until a later date when the person decides to “own their faith” for themselves. But is this a good idea? Nope. First, at the very least it’s not in accord with a careful reading of scripture. Although scripture does not explicitly state to baptize infants, it certainly does so implicitly. For example, scripture speaks about whole households being baptized (see Acts 16:15), which presumably included infants. St. Peter commands: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). Jesus does not say, “Baptize only adults.”

Additionally, the Church Fathers give clear evidence that it was the practice of the early Church to baptize infants. Dedication ceremonies and a disregard for infant baptism are a departure from historical Christian practice. St. Hippolytus of Rome writes in The Apostolic Tradition (ca. A.D. 215):

“Let them remove their clothing. Baptise first the children; and if they can speak for themselves, let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them.”

Origen writes in his Commentaries on Romans (A.D. 244):

“The Church received from the Apostles the tradition of giving Baptism even to infants. For the Apostles, to whom were committed the secrets of divine mysteries, knew that there is in everyone the innate stains of sin, which must be washed away through water and the Spirit.”

Further, Jesus speaks elsewhere of the importance of baptism. In teaching Nicodemus, who visited Jesus by night, our Lord said: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (Jn 3:5). Baptism is the normative gateway to the other sacraments and eternal life. It configures a person to Christ, makes him a member of his body, the Church, and communicates the unsurpassable gift of the Holy Spirit into his soul while cleansing the person of original and personal sin. Who would want to refuse or delay or neglect their child these immense gifts?

Now, back to Jesus’ imperative command, “Go.” This command is given to his disciples—not only of those present with him prior to his ascension but to all his disciples throughout all time. In other words, Jesus gives the command “Go” to every single Catholic who professes the faith of the Church. It’s not only for the clergy—bishops, priests, and deacons. The laity has a special duty to evangelize, as Vatican II noted. By virtue of their secular lives, the lay faithful is in a unique position to infuse others and culture itself with the principles of the saving gospel. In today’s context, this speaks to the requirement—obligation—to engage in the New Evangelization.

What does it mean to evangelize?

In simple terms, to evangelize is to introduce people to Christ and his Church through a proclamation of the saving gospel. To evangelize is to give the greatest possible gift; to refuse to do so is to withhold it. So, evangelization is Christ-centered and ecclesial-centered. It is an authentic presentation of the liberating power of the gospel—not a corruption of it. The Holy Spirit always leads people to Christ AND his Church, the sacrament of salvation. If we are listening to his divine impulses, we will never leave out the Church in the process of evangelizing others.

Perhaps you’ve not been evangelizing. This can be due to a number of causes. Perhaps you feel inadequate. Perhaps you are fearful of being misunderstood or suffering persecution. Perhaps you lack courage. Perhaps you are negligent in prayer and your faith is tepid or cold. Perhaps you’ve bought into religious indifferentism or syncretism or a false tolerance which tolerates everything except Christian evangelization and a communication of Christ’s truth. Perhaps you lack a personal, intimate relationship of communion with Christ.

Naturally, the first place to start is with yourself. No one can evangelize effectively if they lack an intimate relationship of personal communion with Christ. Nor can anyone do so who is living in a state of mortal sin. This speaks to the importance of receiving the sacrament of confession, participating at Holy Mass every Sunday, receiving the Eucharist worthily in a state of grace, meditating on scripture faithfully and within the context of the belief of the Church, authentically forming your conscience by studying the magisterial teaching and belief of the Church; e.g., read the Catechism. Fruitful evangelization is found in living the life of holiness to which all are called.

Bringing yourself under the rule of Christ means also to avoid all evil and live a moral life in Christ in union with his Spirit and according to the will of God the Father. The intentional disciple who is dedicated to evangelization lives by the first principle of the moral law: avoid all evil and do only the good. The authentic, intentional disciple totally avoids the relativistically governed situation ethics so prevalent in American society.

How much knowledge of the faith do you need to have? You don’t have to become a scholarly theologian to evangelize! That you need significant knowledge is a myth, perhaps an excuse. What is needed is love of the Tripersonal God, strength of faith, and courage, which the Holy Spirit gives. If you don’t have all the answers (nobody does), say so. You can learn what you don’t know and address someone’s questions later. There’s tremendous power in simply sharing your love for Christ—and for his Church—and talking about the meaning he has brought into your life. That being said, everyone should make ongoing catechesis a priority and strive for greater faith-literacy. If we’re indifferent to learning the belief of the Church, we’re indifferent to Christ.

Again, the first place to start is found in bringing yourself under the rule of Christ. Then, instruct your children in the faith and bring your family under his rule. Next, work on evangelizing your circle of friends and others you meet. One person at a time, you can engage in bringing society under the rule of Christ by infusing culture with Catholic and Christian principles as you introduce people to the saving and liberating power of the risen Lord.

Last, we often hear that St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” Actually, he didn’t say that. Nowhere can those words be found on his lips. And they never would be. Why? Because trying to evangelize without words is not only quite unfruitful, it is counter to the gospel, which is itself an oral proclamation of the saving power of God. Recall today’s gospel:

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature,” said Jesus.

Yes, living the gospel life is tremendously important; otherwise, our efforts to evangelize would likely be in vain. But the notion that it’s enough to live the gospel life and say nothing of the gospel is false and unproductive—it’s a counterfeit discipleship.

Evangelizing gives true and lasting meaning to your life

Bearing witness to Christ and his Church is the primary mission of the Christian disciple. Pope St. John Paul II noted that intentional and regular participation in the salvific mission of Christ constitutes the deepest level of conversion in a person.

When you pray for a greater strength of faith and apply yourself diligently to participation in the New Evangelization, God will bless you with the grace to succeed. You’ll find your life has new purpose and meaning. Further, this meaning is not connected to fleeting worldly things which soon pass away; rather, it is based on the lasting things of heaven.

Evangelizing is a saintly way to live. No one gets to heaven alone. The saint always has a circle of friends who have arrived there with him in part due to his efforts.

To evangelize is to live as Christ’s disciple. It’s the Catholic way of life. How important is it? How important is eternal life?

*****

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Quotes from the Church Fathers: Jurgens, William A. The Faith of the Early Fathers. Vol. 1, The Liturgical Press, 1970.