‘Large-ss Opens-up Viral Evangelisation’
You may ask: what on earth in heavens name are you ‘on’ about? The short answer is: ‘three different things that are all the same’ (i.e. like the Trinity: but, we’ll come back to that, later) ::: (1) LOVE ::: (2) SACRAMENTAL LIFE ::: (3) GOSPEL GOOD NEWS.
To start with the ‘simple’ explanation: if you look at the highlighted capital letter of each word (of our ‘title / theme’) you will see the word LOVE. Each of us has ‘encoded’ – in our heart – a deep desire for LOVE ::: “God is love” & we are “images and likenesses” of God. In fact, the Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) can be said to be ::: “the Love that Loves to Love”. So, our life stories are essentially our search for LOVE. However, there is a catch! Due to our ‘fallen (sinner) nature’ our human attempts to ‘capture’ LOVE generally go astray ::: we tend to forget God.
Next – for consideration – is our understanding of SACRAMENTAL LIFE ::: ‘Everything is SACRAMENTAL in God’s love’ ::: ‘I can PONDER with God for hours and hours’ ::: ‘Finding new ways to CONNECT each minute’.
Finally: let’s examine that ‘mouthful / mindful’ headline statement that demands a lot of ‘digesting / pondering’. We will start with the ‘end’ word: ‘evangelisation’. It seems to be – always – going ‘round & round & round’, but never really impacting our daily life. It is Greek for ‘good message’. Hence: GOSPEL GOOD NEWS.
Ok, then: what are all those ‘other’ miscellaneous ‘sticky’ words about? Here, we will begin by ‘grabbing hold’ of & ‘wrestling’ with ‘Large-ss’. We have deliberately hyphenated this word for effect i.e. to ‘bring home’ its basic connotation: ‘large’: meaning ‘generosity’ (of heart). The ‘ss’ can be construed as ‘soul sanctity’. Next for scrutiny is that ‘transparent’ / ‘vulnerable’ combination word: ‘Opens-up’. It encapsulates the vertical (i.e. spiritual) & the horizontal (i.e. secular) aspects of life. And last but by no means least is that ‘newish’ word ‘Viral’. It expresses ‘viral behaviour’ or ‘virality’ i.e. it behaves like a ‘virus’ ::: it ‘spreads & spreads & spreads’ its latent ‘message’ and translates (hopefully / eventually) into accepted culture.
Having absorbed all the above, maybe, you can begin to make sense of this challenging ‘title / theme’. The key to ‘evangelisation’ is in “recognizing we are LOST & realizing we are FOUND”. The ‘GOOD NEWS’ message is ::: ‘God has not forgotten man’ ::: He has sent His Son to ‘restore’ our lives. What is, now, called ‘New Evangelisation’ is about ‘sharing’ this – ‘greatest love story ever told’ – with everyone ::: the LOVE we all seek is possible ::: “I came that you may have life & have it to the full” (John 10:10). What is really, really ‘GOOD NEWS’ is that this LOVE is a person ::: Jesus the Christ ::: & He is ‘looking for’, ‘longing for’, ‘waiting for’ each & all of us ::: He says ::: “Come to me”.
A ‘concept’ that ‘ties all the above together’ might be stated as follows: ‘all that exists is God’s gift to man & it all exists to make God known to man & to make man’s life communion with God’ (‘For the life of the world’: Alexander Schmemann). Yes, life is all about ‘reciprocity / mutuality / complementarity’. God offers: Gift Grace Glory (3 “G”s) & mankind is invited to: Receive Restore Return (3 “R”s) as ‘other’ Christ’s.
That is the theory. Now for the practice. LOVE is all about the constantly repeated ‘ABC’ (benevolent) message on this ‘Konect 1-2-1’ website ::: Affirm Bless Celebrate. This has ‘meaning relevance purpose’ in terms of ::: being “child-like”, so that ‘each & all of us’ can become “members” (of the Body of Christ) again ::: ‘Christ invites all of us to joyful TWIST’ (Through (Him) With (HIm) In (Him) Separation Transcended). Note: All this contrasts with (malevolent) DISCONNECT ‘way of life’ ::: Accuse Blame Condemn.
In Summary (3 x 33): ‘GOOD NEWS of God’s LOVE is in Jesus Christ’ : ‘Head Heart Hands is Kingdom generosity’ : ‘Be still for the glory of the Lord is LOVE’.
Addendum: As a Person: God is the ‘context’ of my life (Acts 17:28) ::: As a Christian: Christ is the ‘content’ of my life (CCC 521).
Prayer: “Lord wake us up / Give us generous hearts / Open us up to your possibilities / Spread your Word in our lives / Set us on fire with your LOVE”.