SAINT JOSEPH COLLEGE

THEOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Maasin City, Southern Leyte

MODULE 1
(THEO 4a: Introduction to
Pastoral Life and Evangelization)
1st Semester, AY 2020- 2021

Prepared by:
REV. FR. GIOVANNE LUZON
VIRGINIA ICHON
Instructors
 Saint Joseph College

Course Description
This course provides students with a helpful orientation to a life of Christian service. It prepares
the students for their personal pastoral exposure.

Grading System
Each student shall be assessed on the following:
Quizzes - 20%
Attendance/ Religious Involvement - 20%
Pre-midterm/ Pre-Final -30%
Midterm/ Final - 30%
Total 100 %

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the semester the students must be able to:
1. Envision the important role of evangelization in the church
2. Cultivate the virtues of the saints as their role model
3. Cooperate with other members of the Mystical Body of Christ to achieve its mission of
salvation
MODULE I
Topics:
L1: From Christ the Evangelizer to the Evangelizing Church

L2: What is Evangelization?

L3: The Content of Evangelization

Lesson 1
I. Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Explain the missionary identity of the church
2. Illustrate why Jesus is called greatest evangelizer

II. Introduction
This course will prepare the students for the coming pastoral exposure. They will study the
Evangelii Nuntiandi, the apostolic letter written by Pope Paul VI dated December 8, 1975. The

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purpose of writing this apostolic letter is to encourage the baptized people to do their mission as
evangelizers. They may accomplish this task with ever increasing love, zeal and joy. The
apostolic letter was written on the occasion of three events. First is the End of Holy Year -which
the Church striving to proclaim the Gospel to all people. The Good News proclaimed through
two fundamental commands: “Put on the new self” and “Be reconciled to God”. Second is the
tenth anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council, the objectives of which are
summed up in this single one- to make the Church of the twentieth century ever fitted for
proclaiming the Gospel. Third is one year after the Third General Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops, which was devoted to Evangelization.

Activity: GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Describe who is Jesus Christ in one word. Write your answer in each circle.

JESUS

CHRIST

Explain/Elaborate
Witness and Mission of Jesus
 The whole mission of Jesus is to proclaim the good news of the coming of the
Kingdom of God.

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“I must proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. This is what I was sent
to do.” Lk. 4:43, EN 6

 In order to proclaim the Good News about the coming of the Kingdom of God
Jesus go from town to town preaching, curing the sick and performing miracles

“his teaching, the gathering of the disciples, the sending out of the twelve, the
cross and the resurrection, the permanence of his presence in the midst of His
own-were components of His evangelizing activity” EN 6
Jesus, the first Evangelizer
 “Jesus Himself, the Good News of God was the first and greatest evangelizer”
EN 7

Proclamation of the Kingdom of God

 Jesus proclaims about the Kingdom of God

“as an evangelizer, Christ first of all proclaims a kingdom that, by comparison,

everything else becomes the rest.” EN 8
Proclamation of Liberating Salvation
 Together with the message about the coming of the kingdom of God, Jesus
teaches the good news about salvation- that God will liberate men (us) from sin
and the Evil One
 The coming of the kingdom of God will bring about salvation/liberation for the
people

“as the kernel and center of His Good News, Christ proclaims salvation, this
great gift of God which is liberation from everything that oppresses man but
which is above all liberation from sin and Evil One.” EN 9

“all of this is begun during the life of Christ and definitively accomplished by his
death and resurrection. But it must be patiently carried on during the course of
history.” EN 9
At the price of crucifying effort
 In order for man to receive the promised salvation brought about by the coming
of the kingdom of God, man must give in to the demands of the kingdom

“each individual must gain them by force- through the toil and suffering, through
a life lived according to the Gospels, through abnegation and the cross, through

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the spirit of the beatitudes. But above all through a total interior renewal which
the Gospel calls metanoia; a radical conversion, a profound change of heart.”
EN 10
Tireless Preaching
 Jesus fulfilled His mission of proclaiming about the coming of the kingdom of God
through preaching

“Christ accomplished this proclamation of the kingdom of God through the

untiring preaching of a word which it will be said, has no equal elsewhere…His
words reveal the secret of God, His plan and His promise, and thereby change
the heart of man and his destiny.” EN 11
With evangelical signs
 Jesus did not only preach but show signs (miracles) in order to confirm what he
preached

“Thus He accomplishes His revelation that He makes of Himself and more

especially by His death, by His resurrection and by the sending of the Spirit of
Truth.” EN 12

For an Evangelized and Evangelizing Community

 Those who accept in faith the Good News about the kingdom of God gather
together and form a community in order to seek together the kingdom, build it up
and live it. In turn, this community is an evangelizing community.

“Those who have received the Good News and who have been gathered by it
into the community of salvation can and must communicate and spread it.” EN 13

Evangelization: Vocation Proper to the Church

 It is a task and a mission of the Church to evangelize

 St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians (1Cor. 9:16) states, “not that I boast
preaching the Gospel, since it is a duty that has been laid on me; I should be
punished if I did not preach.”
 The Synod in 1974 also affirms this mission of the church saying, “we wish to
confirm once more that the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the
essential mission of the Church.” EN 14

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“evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest
identity. She exists in order to evangelize, to be the channel of the gift of grace,
to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ’s sacrifice of the Mass,
which is the memorial of His death and glorious resurrection.” EN 14
Reciprocal Link Between the Church and Evangelization
 The Church is born of the evangelizing activity of Jesus and the Twelve

“Jesus commanded the apostles, “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations.”
Mt. 28:19

 Having born consequently out of being sent, the Church in her turn is sent by
Jesus.

“She (the Church) remains as a sign –simultaneously obscure and luminous- of a

new presence of Jesus, of His departure and of His permanent presence. She
prolongs and continues Him. And it is above all His mission and His condition of
being an evangelizer that she is called upon to continue.” EN 15

 The Church is an evangelizer, but she begins by being evangelized herself.

“this means that she has a constant need of being evangelized, if she wishes to
retain freshness, vigor and strength in order to proclaim the Gospel.” EN 15

 The Church is the depository of the Good News to be proclaimed

The promises of Jesus Christ, the teachings of the Lord and the Apostles, the
Word of Life, the sources of grace and of God’s loving kindness and the path to
salvation are all entrusted to the Church, not in order to be kept hidden but in
order to be communicated. EN 15

 Having been sent and evangelized, the Church herself sends out evangelizers.

The Church gives them the mandate she herself has received and she sends
them out to preach. EN 15
The Church, Inseparable from Christ
 There is a profound link between Christ, the Church and Evangelization
“it is she who has the task of evangelizing. This mandate is not accomplished
without her, and still less against her.” EN 16

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LESSON 2

Objectives:
At the end of the lesson the student should be able to:
1. Define the meaning of evangelization
2. Explain the importance of witness of life and explicit explanation in the work of
evangelization
Activity:
Define the following terms base on your own idea:
A. Evangelize
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
________________
B. Evangelist
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
________________
C. Evangelizer
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
________________
D. Evangelization
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
________________

Explain/Elaborate
Complexity of Evangelizing action
 In the Church evangelizing activity there are certain elements and aspects to be
insisted on

“these elements are: proclamation of Christ to those who do not know Him,
preaching, catechesis, Baptism and other sacraments..” EN 17

Renewal of Humanity
 Evangelization means renewal. Renewal is the ultimate goal.

“For the Church, evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all strata of
humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and
making it anew.” EN 18

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“The purpose of evangelization is therefore precisely this interior change, and if it

had to be expressed in one sentence the best way of stating it would be to say
that the church evangelizes when she seeks to convert…” EN 18
Evangelization of cultures
 Evangelization of culture means that the work of evangelization starts with the
people

“what matters is to evangelize man’s culture and cultures by always taking the
person as one’s starting point and always coming back to the relationships of
people among themselves and with God.” EN 20
Primary importance of the witness of life
 The Gospel must be proclaimed by witnesses
 Our way of life, the way we live is a silent proclamation of the Good News and a
very powerful and effective one

“all Christians are called to this witness, and in this way they can be real
evangelizers” EN 21

“witnessing- when a Christian who, in the midst of their own community, show
their capacity for understanding and acceptance, their sharing of life and destiny
with other people, their solidarity with the efforts of all for whatever is noble and
good. They radiate in an altogether simple and unaffected way their faith in
values that go beyond current values, and their hope in something that is not
seen and that one would not dare imagine.” EN 21

Need of explicit proclamation

 Witness of the life of a Christian is good but also needs explanation

For a vital and community acceptance

“The proclamation only reaches full development when it is listened to, accepted
and assimilated, and when it arouses a genuine adherence in the one who has
thus received it.” EN 23

“Such adherence reveals itself concretely by a visible entry into a community of

believers” EN 23

“the person who has been evangelized goes on to evangelize others” EN 24

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Lesson 3
Objectives:
At the end of the lesson the student should be able to:
1. Enumerate the essential contents of evangelization
2. Explain the different contents of evangelization

Activity: WORD PUZZLE

Find the 8 key words that corresponds the word evangelization.
Q W E R T Y U I O A P S D F P R E A C H I N G E M
G O C U T E T E Q O Q W T A A T F W L T M Q F Q G
I Q H Y G A G D S P W E G T E G F Q I E D S O S F
T W U T F S U F D Y S T H E D D A A V S E S F D Q
H R R H H D I H R T T U J S Y E I F I T U E F D C
D S C B U F J E S U S C H R I S T G N A O F U F V
V T H O J G T T T H G I D T U A H B G M C F F F H
H H E J K H F W Y Y H O E G J L T V L E E G O C G
I Y T K O J G E U U J P A H J V G G O N A E U C D
T H H L E K J E I J K Q I J G A H W V T Q B M C D
E J U E S L K A O K H W U W D T U U I W O V I F S
G G J C C L S S H I U E Y I S I I F N D P E S D R
N O K G V T A R K O J T T M X O O D G V L C S D F
M I U J B Y D C H R I S T I A N P G O H T C I C D
K U J K G U E A A P O I U Q G Y L G L U Y X O G I
A E C O N V E R S I O N O U H Y K Y D O I T N Y K

In your opinion, what is the essential content in Evangelization?

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Explain/Elaborate
Witness given to the Father’s love
 Witnessing God’s love

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“to evangelize is first of all to bear witness, in a simple and direct way, to God
revealed by Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit; to bear witness that in His Son God
has loved the world- that in His Incarnate Word He has given being to all things
and has called man to eternal life” EN 26
At the center of the message: salvation in Jesus Christ
 Jesus’ work of saving us

“evangelization will also always contain a clear proclamation that Jesus Christ,
the Son of God made man, who died and rose from the dead, salvation is offered
to all men, as a gift of God’s grace and mercy” EN 27
Under the sign of hope
“evangelization includes the preaching of hope in the promises made by God in
the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, the preaching of God’s love for us and of our
love for God, the preaching of brotherly love for all men, of self-denial, of helping
one’s brother and sister” EN 28
Message touching life as a whole
“Evangelization takes into account the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of
man’s concrete life, both personal and social” EN 29
A message of liberation
“the Church has the duty to proclaim the liberation of millions of human beings,
many of whom are her own children- the duty of assisting the birth of this
liberation, of giving witness to it, of ensuring that it is complete” EN 30
Necessarily Linked to Human Advancement
 There are profound links between evangelization and human development

“It is impossible to accept that in evangelization one could or should ignore the
importance of the problems so much discussed today concerning justice,
liberation, development and peace in the world.” EN 31
Without reduction or ambiguity
“there is a need to restate clearly the specifically religious finality of
evangelization and not reduce her mission to the dimension of a simply temporal
project” EN 32
Evangelical Liberation
“liberation must envisage the whole man, in all his aspects, right up to and
including his openness to the absolute, even the Divine Absolute” EN 3

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Centered on the kingdom of God

“the Church is certainly not willing to restrict her mission only to the religious field
and dissociate herself from man’s temporal problems. Nevertheless, she
reaffirms the primacy of her spiritual vocation and refuses to replace the
proclamation of the kingdom by proclamation of the forms of human liberation”
EN 34
On an evangelical concept of man
“human liberation must include the spiritual dimension and final goal of salvation
is happiness in God”
Involving necessary conversion
“in building up God’s kingdom and evangelizing, conversion of the heart and of
outlook is necessary”
Excluding Violence
“violence is not in accord with the Gospel, that is not Christian, and that sudden
or violent changes of structures would be deceitful, ineffective of themselves and
certainly not in conformity with the dignity of the people”

Prayer before Study

By St. Thomas Aquinas

Creator of all things, true Source of light and wisdom, lofty origin of all being, graciously let a ray of Your
brilliance penetrate into the darkness of my understanding and take from me the double darkness in
which I have been born, an obscurity of both sin and ignorance.

Give me a sharp sense of understanding, a retentive memory, and the ability to grasp things correctly and
fundamentally.

Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations, and the ability to express myself with thoroughness
and charm.

Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in completion; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer after Study

Thank You, Lord God, for opening my eyes to the light of Your wisdom. You have delighted my heart with
the knowledge of truth. I ask You, Lord, help me always to do Your will.

Bless my soul and body, my words and actions.

Grant that I may grow in grace, wisdom and virtue, that Your name may always be glorified, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

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