September 11, 2024

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

This morning as I was walking back home after an early morning walk, I was passed by one of our schoolteachers who was walking to school. This was the first day of school last week. Without thinking, I said in greeting, “Have fun.” I remember so well that teachers need that something unique, that spirit of joyfulness, that a good teacher finds and that brings joy and happiness as they begin a new day and a new school year.

I remembered a talk I recently listened to on YouTube. It was a talk given by Cardinal Tagle. In this talk, he presented the importance of having a joyful spirit as evangelizers, as a Catholic bringing the message of Jesus to our own lives and to the others we meet in our world. You may remember that Cardinal Tagle is the Vatican Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization. He wanted us, Catholics, to remember that we must develop the Lord’s Spirit of joy and love if we are going to lead others to Jesus and his message.

The Second Vatican Council renewed the call of all baptized Catholics to the important part of our vocation to evangelize – to bring Jesus to our part of the world. Let me remind you of the words of the Council: “Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be – ‘the universal sacrament of salvation,’ the Church, the People of God, in the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all.”

This Council goes on to make it clear that the Lord calls us all to be these evangelizers. Bishops and priests are called to this task by their ordination. The Lord, Jesus, calls us all, lay men and lay women to an essential part of this task. As the People of God, we must be dedicated to transform our world with the message of Jesus.

Cardinal Tagle in this talk insists that we, Catholics, realize that only when we are filled with the Lord’s spirit of love and joyfulness that we will be effective evangelizers. The success of our Christian life demands that we are filled with joy and find our happiness as we bring Jesus to our world. Jesus made it clear as we read in the Gospels that his disciples must truly transform this world in the Lord, Jesus, as loving, peace filled, joyful disciples.

Jesus showed us that he taught and spoke in total obedience to the Father. Jesus taught with authority and confidence because he spoke in obedience to the Father. Our vocation as disciples of the Lord means that we become confidant evangelizers – following Jesus in obedience to the Father.

Jesus demonstrated his loving Spirit as he demonstrated his readiness to be in communion with all others. He demonstrated this as he reached out to others in a Spirit of compassion to all, saints and sinners. Jesus constantly reached out in compassion and forgiveness, speaking to others, even sinners, as his brothers and sisters. Jesus demonstrated this with a loving, joyful spirit.

We, disciples of the Lord, are called to follow our Lord and Savior. We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves – we are called to reach out to others in the Spirit of Jesus. We can only accomplish this when we reach out to others with joy and peace. In this way we lead others to Jesus and to understand his message. Disciples of the Lord know how to radiate the joyful Spirit of the Lord – walking always in the Lord’s path.