Evangelization Is the Overflow of a Life Taken Over by Jesus

Today is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the two great Apostles of the early Church. Both gave their lives to Jesus. Both gave their lives to evangelization. Both gave their lives as martyrs in Rome. But here is what we often miss: Peter and Paul were not professionals. Peter was a fisherman. Paul had a tent-making business. There was no professional class of evangelists in the beginning. There were no Catholic institutions, no media platforms, no polished programs. There were just people whose lives had been taken over by Jesus. That is what made them missionaries.

Peter and Paul were constantly evangelizing, not because evangelization was their job, but because Jesus was their life. When your whole life is wrapped up in one Person, how can you keep from speaking about Him? When Jesus becomes the center of your thoughts, your desires, your choices, your friendships, and your hopes, then He naturally comes out in conversation.

This is where evangelization begins. It does not begin with a technique. It does not begin with a program. It does not begin with being an expert. Evangelization begins when Jesus becomes the center of my life.

The First Step Is to Become a Real Christian

So, what is the first step in evangelization? Become a real Christian. Not a cultural Christian. Not a vague believer. Not someone who goes through the motions. A real Christian is someone who makes transforming union with God the purpose of life. That means I want Jesus to live in me. I want His mind to become my mind. His heart to become my heart, His desires to become my desires, His way of life to become my way of life.

That begins with the Eucharist. Holy Communion increases our union with Christ. If I want Jesus to live in me, then I need to receive Him as often as I reasonably can. Then I need prayer. Friendship with Jesus takes time. There is no substitute for time alone with Him. No friendship grows without time. No soul becomes holy without prayer. Then I need daily meditation on the Word of God. Every day, I need to listen to what God is saying and make one concrete resolution to do what He asks. One good thought should become one good choice. Good choices become habits. Habits become virtues. Virtues transform us in love.

Then I need confession. I need to remove sin at the roots. I need to fight the vices and practice the virtues. I need to detach from anything that keeps me from God.

This is the first work of evangelization: let Jesus take possession of your own life. Because if Jesus is not changing me, why would anyone believe He can change them?

Peter’s Mission: Those Who Think They Are Fine

St. Paul says in Galatians that Peter had a mission to the Jews, while Paul had a mission to the Gentiles. And in a certain sense, we still have that double mission today. Peter’s mission was to those who already had religion. They had the Scriptures. They had the covenant. They had the Temple. They had the promises. But many of them did not recognize Jesus when He came. That is a real danger.

Many Catholics today think they are fine. They identify as Catholic. They may have grown up Catholic. They may still go to Mass from time to time. But they do not pray. They do not know Scripture. They do not live deep friendship with Jesus. They do not understand the Sacraments. They reject the moral and doctrinal teaching of the Church and still assume everything is okay.

This was me. I was one of those badly formed Catholics. I thought I was Catholic, but I was not really living as a disciple. Then a friend had the courage to do three things. First, he invited me into a Bible study and got to know me. Second, once he knew me, he gave me a book by William May called An Introduction to Moral Theology. I read it, and I was mad. Not mad at the teaching. I was mad that no one had ever told me the truth before. Third, he told me that Mary, the Mother of God, was appearing in Medjugorje. That got my attention. Then I began to ask: Has Mary appeared in other places? Lourdes? Fatima? Akita? Kibeho?

And then it struck me: if Mary is real, then Jesus is real. And if Jesus is real, then everything has to change. And it did.

Paul’s Mission: The Secular World

Paul had a mission to the Gentiles, to those outside the covenant, outside the Scriptures, outside the familiar world of Jewish faith. That meant Paul could not always begin by quoting the Bible. Many of the people he spoke to did not accept the Bible. They did not know Moses. They did not know the prophets. So Paul began where they were. He began with reason, experience, conscience, longing, suffering, beauty, purpose, and the question of God. We have to do the same.

Many people today do not accept Scripture. They do not trust the Church. They do not care what the Catechism says. So if we begin by quoting an authority they do not recognize, we may lose them before the conversation begins. That does not mean we hide the faith. It means we begin with the questions they can already relate to.

Why is there something rather than nothing? Why do I long for happiness that nothing in this world can satisfy? Why do I know some things are truly right and wrong? Why does beauty move me? Why does innocent suffering cry out for justice? What is the purpose of life?

These are not abstract questions. These are human questions. Every person carries them. St. Peter tells us to “always be ready to give an answer” for the reason for the hope within us. That takes effort. It takes preparation. It takes practice. We need to learn how to help people think clearly, not so we can win arguments, but so we can help them find the path to God.

Begin with Friendship

So how do we begin? Start with listening.

The best way to evangelize is not to unload everything we believe. It is to know and love the person in front of us. Ask good questions. Listen well. Be genuinely interested. People open up when they feel known, understood, and loved and cared for. 

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