In today’s Gospel from Matthew, Jesus tells us that anyone instructed in the things of the Kingdom of Heaven is similar to a parent who continually finds new and old things in his/her treasure.
As I was preparing for today’s homily for Mass, I discovered an old hidden treasure; Jesus never tried to convert or demand conversion from anyone from their religion. His command was to “go and make disciples of all nations”. A disciple is a student, one who learns and follows the instruction and example of his/her teacher. Jesus’ command was to teach people to follow his example. Jesus was The Great Unifier of people and cultures. He opened the Kingdom of Heaven to people within the context of their own culture and understanding. The story of the Good Samaritan illustrates this perfectly.
To be like Jesus is to be universal, to be one with all people and all things in our quest to be one with the Father. How many cultures and peoples have been destroyed, literally and figuratively in the name of Jesus, in the name of evangelism! Murder, subjugation and oppression in the name of Love to save souls, are not the exclusive claims of just the Roman Catholic Church, albeit perhaps the most prolific. Indeed, many fundamentalist believers and missionaries of different religious stripes bear this nefarious honor for their own particular churches.
May God grant to the United American Catholic Church and all churches, both independent and institutional, the wisdom to bring about a new missional era for the world and for their congregations. May we all be given the grace to truly be imitators of Jesus and lead by example so that others will ask from whence comes our joy that they may do the same.
Now that is evangelization!