Florida Catholic | ‘Evangelization Is … The Church In Movement’

‘Evangelization is … the church in movement’

Paulist Father John Hurley invites Catholics to set their faith in motion.

DEBRA TOMASELLI | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 05.22.08

The next time you pray, ‘Come, Holy Spirit,’ be careful. You might just get what you pray for. Are you ready?”
— Father John Hurley

ORLANDO | Right from the start, Paulist Father John Hurley disarmed his audience. After a lengthy introduction, Father Hurley, who is the executive director of the National Pastoral Life Center, took the microphone.

“My mother wouldn’t recognize me after all that,” he said. The crowd roared.

Father Hurley presented a workshop titled “Catholic Faith in Action” May 9 at the Diocese of Orlando’s Festival of Faith. In his seminar, he addressed the challenges and opportunities for the essential mission of church – evangelization.

Moving into the heart of his talk, Father Hurley referenced Jesus’ command to go and make disciples. In carrying on evangelization, Father Hurley suggested audience members define who they are and where they are going.

“How many got up this morning and said, ‘I am a disciple of Christ,’” he asked the audience. In the packed crowd, only one hand was raised.

He challenged listeners to rise the next morning, look in the mirror and declare that they are a disciple of Jesus Christ.

“I believe your day will be different,” he said. “Discipleship isn’t about someone else. It’s about me and my mission.”

A follower of Christ is an instrument of good news and an instrument of hope, he said. He challenged audience members to believe they are capable of transforming the world.

“Do we speak about the glass half empty or the glass half full? If we don’t see ourselves as disciples of Christ,” he said, “how can we expect to do anything in the name of God?”

A personal encounter is the evangelical force of the Gospel, Father Hurley said, and asked listeners to recall their first encounter with the Lord. That, he said, is what you are bringing to others.

Referring to the disciples in the upper room, who huddled in fear behind locked doors, Father Hurley asked audience members to consider if they were sometimes afraid to let their faith come out. He pointed out that once the Holy Spirit entered those same disciples, they went out to spread the good news.

“Evangelization is not a movement of the church,” he said, “but, rather, the church in movement.”

He pointed out that thousands of people would come to the Festival of Faith and thousands would drive by and see the signs. “Won’t some ask questions?”

In closing, Father Hurley reminded the group that they are disciples of Jesus Christ, not members of a parish. Their lives are 24/7, not one hour a week.

He led the assembly in prayer, invoking the presence of the Holy Spirit.

“The next time you pray, ‘Come, Holy Spirit,’” he said, “be careful. You might just get what you pray for.

“Are you ready?”

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