Streets of Gold

I’m too busy. I’ve got a lot of pressures at work. I’m have too many school activities. I’m working on this important project.

Sound familiar? It’s easy to come up with reasons why we can’t evangelize. Don’t fall into that trap.

Have you ever become consumed in a project around the house? Have you ever been so focused on a goal that you go to bed at night thinking about what you accomplished toward that goal and what is ahead for the next day?

Our house is currently in chaos. We are putting new tile down and if you have ever gone through a home remodeling project, you will understand how all-consuming that can be. What color tile, what pattern, what grout, where are you going to eat, how do you clean up all that dust, and on it goes. I have spent the better part of the last two weeks completely focused on that in my spare time and completely diverted. Diverted from my purpose in life.

Life is filled with those distractions.

It is important that even at the busiest times of our lives, we remember to evangelize. The Second Vatican Council reminds us that the whole Church is missionary, and the work of evangelization is a basic duty of the People of God.

The Bishops of the USCCB were so serious about evangelization that they prepared a national plan for evangelization and published it in a book called “Go and Make Disciples”.

They made it very clear that this plan was addressed to all Catholics in the country. They did not direct it to the priests and religious alone. They did not limit it to the catechists.

When speaking of the goals outlined in our (that’s right I said “our”) national plan and strategy for Catholic evangelization, the Bishops said, “These goals are addressed to all Catholics in our country.”

They added “Although everyone will pursue these goals with different gifts, no one can claim exemption from them.”

When you have a project as big as changing the tile in the house, it affects everyone in the family. My wife and I let our children know what was happening and helped them understand what their responsibilities were. We, as a family had to share cleanup tasks. The family table was moved to another room. Even with the plan, everyone was still uncomfortable and unsettled. But you pull together because you know the end goal will be a more comfortable home.

Well, our spiritual fathers (the Bishops) have put together a plan that can at times be uncomfortable and unsettling too. However, we all have a role to play and no one can avoid their responsibilities. In this case, our responsibility is to evangelize. For this project though the end goal is not merely a tile floor. The goal for this is a street of gold (Rev 21:21).