Lent: Conversion and invitation
by Father Frank DeSiano, CSP
March 16, 2015
Father Frank DeSiano, CSPFather Frank DeSiano, CSP

I am frequently on the road, and quite often preaching about evangelization to Catholics across the United States (and Canada, now and then). Given Catholic resistance to the word “evangelization,” it is heartening to see how often parishes want just this particular theme to be the center of its spiritual retreat.

On the final night of my preaching, I talk about four elements in evangelization: witness, welcome, invitation and sharing. Of course, it’s the last two that particularly rattle the imagination of Catholics because we think the Church is asking us to behave in ways that we have found offensive – as when others pester us about faith, seem to intrude on us or presume that we are not saved or good. “You don’t want us to act like that, do you?”

No. Pope Francis has made clear that evangelization has nothing to do with “proselytism” – pushing faith from a smug and superior position – not opening ourselves to others, presuming their bad faith and putting them down. This is not evangelization but, rather, a distortion of it.

All evangelization has to arise from relationships we have with others. That relationship has to be one of respect, sharing as brothers and sisters, and the love that Christ calls us to have. We cannot invite and share until people have given us “permission” to do so – opened up their hearts because we have opened up our hearts to them.

If Lent is about conversion, this means Lent is a time to learn how to invite and share within the true spirit of Catholic evangelization. Giving up chocolate or beer ranks quite low when compared with the opportunity to help others discover Jesus Christ active in their lives.

In my preaching I often joke that the four hardest words for Catholics to say are: “Can I invite you …” The words are simple, yet it hardly dawns upon us to use them. Inviting means knowing the context in which another may be able to hear our words. It also means inviting people to what seems appropriate to their situation. Maybe people are far from being ready to attend Mass. But what about concerts, festivals, plays children might put on, or opportunities to serve the poor and hungry? What about small groups in our homes? Or special lectures offered by parishes or dioceses?

Becoming an “Inviting Church” seems to me to be one of the main objectives of our Church today. The spirituality of Lent invites us to push beyond the “Jesus-and-me” attitude we so often have, or the “parish-is-my-private-club” presumption that we make. It means knowing the hunger of all hearts for the deepest Love – God – and sharing with others what God has, in grace, given to us.

To the extent we are reluctant to invite, to that extent we take our faith for granted.

Father Frank DeSiano, CSP, is president of Paulist Evangelization Ministries.