Not on one’s own

There are of course are many individuals who evangelize, but their task never falls lies outside the context of the Christian community, outside the Church. The person who preaches the Gospel disconnected from the Church is cut off from the source of life: no longer receiving oxygen and food. To truly be a Christian community, certain criteria must be met. These are summed up in Acts (2.42 to 47 in particular).

The community does not invent its own message: it remains faithful to the teaching of the apostles; it is united in prayer; it maintains bonds of communion with all other Christian communities; it lives in solidarity with the poor, and is hospitable.  It is particularly faithful to the Eucharist. It lives the Good News of Jesus Christ; and it knows and explicitly testifies in its life the focus on Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and also to all the pastors it sends.

Every day the Christian community works as well for the liberation of all people both within itself and outside. It welcomes being challenged by the Word of God, in repentance and prayer. Finally, it asks God to bestow the fullness of truth about the charisms it needs to grow and bear fruit in the world.