Meagan, one of our street evangelists, offered a miraculous medal to a homeless man named Michael, but Michael refused to take it. He said that he didn’t deserve a miraculous medal, that he had squandered all the good things in his life, that he had let all the opportunities he had been given pass him by. He said, “I’ll go back to God after I get right.”
Meagan said, “Don’t wait. Go back to God now!” then she told Michael about HER life. Meagan had lived in a fog of darkness. She too had been homeless. She was an alcoholic, promiscuous, and addicted to prescription drugs and heroin. She lost two of her children to the state. She had multiple felonies, and did jail time. At her lowest points, she attempted suicide. But she was saved by Jesus Christ- forgiven, and delivered from that life. Through the merciful love of God. God sought her out, and She turned to God, by embracing Jesus.
By the time the conversation was over, Michael had a big smile on his face, and finally accepted a miraculous medal.
Hi, my name is Mary Healy. I am delighted to present lesson one of module one of the online Basic Evangelization Training. The module is “Introduction to Evangelization,” and the lesson is “Evangelization: The Basics.”
In the gospel, the Lord tells us that He “goes after the one that is lost, until he finds it,” and that “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” He reveals to us that God genuinely and passionately desires the salvation of sinners.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 1846, “The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God’s mercy to sinners.”
In this lesson we will begin to answer the question, “What is Evangelization”?
Simply put, evangelization is proclaiming the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. In this lesson, I hope to unpack this statement a bit for you, while making some introductory points on the basics of how to evangelize.