After recalling some words of Benedict XVI in his first encyclical letter, Deus Caritas est, García Beltrán stressed in his homily that "evangelization is the proclamation of a Name, the only Name that can save: Jesus Christ. There is no true evangelization if man does not encounter Christ, if Christ does not reach the heart and change it, transform it, envelop it with his love, only in this way will this experience be manifested in daily existence".
"Evangelization," he added, "is not a human initiative that the Church has seconded over the centuries; evangelization obeys Jesus' missionary mandate: 'Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you' (Mt 28:19-20).
On this point, he recalled Pope Francis, when quoting St. Paul, he pointed out: "It is what Paul tells us here: 'I do not do it to boast' - and he adds - 'on the contrary, it is for me an imperative necessity'. A Christian has the obligation, with this force, as a necessity, to bear the name of Jesus, from his very heart" (Homily at Santa Marta, 9/09/2016). Witnesses evangelize".
"This mandate took root in our land, Spain, from the very dawn of Christianity, more than twenty centuries of evangelizing work that have given many fruits of holiness, and we ask that it continues to give them, so this afternoon we pray for the evangelization of Spain," continued Bishop García Beltrán, who is also a member of the Executive and Permanent Commissions of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, before numerous people and families convened by the communication network EWTN Spain.
"Unity with the See of Peter".
In the pastoral orientations for the coming years, the prelate continued, "the bishops of Spain ask ourselves, how can we evangelize in today's Spanish society? The evangelizing mission of the Church in Spain encounters two types of difficulties: some come from outside the environmental culture; others come from within, from internal secularization, lack of communion or missionary daring".
To respond to these challenges, Bishop García Beltrán encouraged us to return "to the elements that throughout history have given foundation to our faith. He cited five in particular: "a Church of confessors and martyrs, a Church always united to the See of Peter, a missionary Church, a Samaritan Church, and a Marian Church. A synthesis of each aspect can be useful, without prejudice to accessing the integral homily.
1) "A Church of Confessors and Martyrs. Evangelization today demands from us personal and pastoral conversion, revitalization of the faith, commitment in its transmission, a clear identity, and a great capacity to reach the people of our time; it is necessary that we become aware that evangelization is the work of the Holy Spirit with whom we want to collaborate in trust and docility".
2) "A Church always united to the See of Peter. The communion of faith with the successors of the Apostle Peter, and the adhesion and love to his person and magisterium have identified our Christianity. For this reason, the evangelization of Spain also at this time must have this sign of identity; we must evangelize in communion with the Pope and his magisterium, to which we must unite our sincere and filial affection; we can hardly evangelize from disaffection with the Successor of Peter and the questioning of his teachings".
3) "A missionary Church. Spain has always been a Church in missionary outreach; sons of this land have taken the Gospel to every corner of the world, and continue to do so. Francis Xavier and thousands of names with him write some of the most beautiful pages of our Christianity, at the same time that they show us the way of the mission as the essence of faith; but there will be no mission if there is no true Christian life, if we do not cultivate the interior life, if we do not awaken the passion for Christ, already from the family".
4) "A Samaritan Church. Everyone will recognize that we are Christ's disciples if we love one another, which is why charity is also an essential element of our Church. We have evangelized through charity, and we continue to do so. The credibility of faith comes through charity, through love for others, especially the poorest. We will continue to evangelize if we continue to live the charity of Christ, because charity is evangelizing, and if we allow ourselves to be evangelized by the poor".
5) "Finally, we are a Marian Church. Mary is the fundamental foundation of the Church, and she has been the foundation of our land. We are a Marian Church, as St. John Paul II liked to say: "Spain, land of Mary".
EWTN
The event was attended by hundreds of people convened by EWTN Spainwhich is presided over by José Carlos González Hurtado, and which began its TV broadcasts in our country a few months ago. According to the group, almost 90,000 people from all over the world followed the Adoration and the Mass at the Cerro de los Ángeles through Facebook alone. If we add those who watched it on Instagram, television (in Spain and Latin America), and on the web itself, the organizers estimate "at least as many".
At the end of the homily, the Bishop of Getafe invited "those of you who are here at the Cerro de los Angeles, and those who follow us through the EWTN TV channel, to continue praying unwaveringly so that Jesus Christ may be known, loved and followed, with the conviction that He is by far the best; therefore, evangelization is the best work of love for our brothers and sisters".
