Focused Link: Friendship: The Key to the Evangelization of Men
Here's an article from Fr. McCloskey on friendship and how this can be used to spread the faith. I find the article quite natural and practical in today's social conditions.
The entire article can be viewed here:
http://www.catholicity.com/mccloskey/articles/friendship.html
Below is an excerpt from that article.
*~*~*~*~*
Friendship and evangelization
Friendship, for a Christian, can be an effective form of evangelization. In this context, evangelization means simply sharing our relationship with Christ--cultivated through prayer, meditation on Holy Scripture, and the sacraments--with our friends. This entails a friendship that is sincere and authentic, and certainly does not look upon friendship as a tool. Friendship is, and in a natural way must be recognized as, an end in itself. There are many examples in history and in literature of admirable friendships, and these examples do not necessarily involve religious faith. However friendship can be can be uplifted and supernaturalized when it reaches its highest level in sharing the ultimate good: God himself. To introduce or re-introduce Jesus Christ to another man is the greatest good of human friendship.
Throughout the history of the Church, starting with our Lord Himself, Christianity has been spread principally through the one-on-one encounters that (along with procreation) have caused the Church to grow, so that early Church of the 12 apostles now embraces 1 billion Catholics today. But we cannot rest. There are still billions more people waiting to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and his Church.
I hope that this article will help readers to understand the Friendship Deficit Syndrome and how damaging it can be for the human and supernatural development of men's personalities. With time, self-knowledge and God's help, if need be, men can be cured of it. They will be holier, happier, and more apostolic.
As you can see, I am addressing men, particularly Catholic men. But women who care about men--mothers, sisters, wives, and prospective wives--are encouraged to take a peek. After all, they should take strong interest in the true Christian manliness of the males in their lives. Their own livelihood and happiness, and that of their children, may depend on the ability of the men they love to cope with the increasingly perilous culture in which we find ourselves.
Women must remember that before the Christian faith exerted its influence on the laws and morals in the ancient world of the Mediterranean, wives and children were often viewed as mere chattel at the absolute disposal of the paterfamilias--to the point that the man often assumed the right to put unsatisfactory women and children to death. Those ancient attitudes are not completely dead, even today; there is similar treatment of women and children still on display in some cultures. This sort of tyranny could repeat itself even in Western cultures, or we might see the development of new forms of what Pope John Paul II has called the "new totalitarianism" which increasingly envelops us in the West. The witness of strong men, willing to be confessors and martyrs for their faith, may be best possible protection for marriage and the family.
Moreover, in coping with the Friendship Deficit Syndrome, wives can play an important role by encouraging their husbands to spend more time with their friends. In today's society there always will be tensions in balancing work, family, and social life. Those women who work outside the home and still have to take care of the domestic chores understandably want their husbands home as much as possible in the evenings and on weekends. However, if a wife insists that the husband always be at home when he is not at work, she may be denying him the opportunity to make himself a better husband and father--and at the same depriving other men of the good example and influence her husband could provide. Although friendship is always personal, a wife should desire that her husband has the opportunity to make as many friends as she has.
The entire article can be viewed here:
http://www.catholicity.com/mccloskey/articles/friendship.html
Below is an excerpt from that article.
*~*~*~*~*
Friendship and evangelization
Friendship, for a Christian, can be an effective form of evangelization. In this context, evangelization means simply sharing our relationship with Christ--cultivated through prayer, meditation on Holy Scripture, and the sacraments--with our friends. This entails a friendship that is sincere and authentic, and certainly does not look upon friendship as a tool. Friendship is, and in a natural way must be recognized as, an end in itself. There are many examples in history and in literature of admirable friendships, and these examples do not necessarily involve religious faith. However friendship can be can be uplifted and supernaturalized when it reaches its highest level in sharing the ultimate good: God himself. To introduce or re-introduce Jesus Christ to another man is the greatest good of human friendship.
Throughout the history of the Church, starting with our Lord Himself, Christianity has been spread principally through the one-on-one encounters that (along with procreation) have caused the Church to grow, so that early Church of the 12 apostles now embraces 1 billion Catholics today. But we cannot rest. There are still billions more people waiting to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and his Church.
I hope that this article will help readers to understand the Friendship Deficit Syndrome and how damaging it can be for the human and supernatural development of men's personalities. With time, self-knowledge and God's help, if need be, men can be cured of it. They will be holier, happier, and more apostolic.
As you can see, I am addressing men, particularly Catholic men. But women who care about men--mothers, sisters, wives, and prospective wives--are encouraged to take a peek. After all, they should take strong interest in the true Christian manliness of the males in their lives. Their own livelihood and happiness, and that of their children, may depend on the ability of the men they love to cope with the increasingly perilous culture in which we find ourselves.
Women must remember that before the Christian faith exerted its influence on the laws and morals in the ancient world of the Mediterranean, wives and children were often viewed as mere chattel at the absolute disposal of the paterfamilias--to the point that the man often assumed the right to put unsatisfactory women and children to death. Those ancient attitudes are not completely dead, even today; there is similar treatment of women and children still on display in some cultures. This sort of tyranny could repeat itself even in Western cultures, or we might see the development of new forms of what Pope John Paul II has called the "new totalitarianism" which increasingly envelops us in the West. The witness of strong men, willing to be confessors and martyrs for their faith, may be best possible protection for marriage and the family.
Moreover, in coping with the Friendship Deficit Syndrome, wives can play an important role by encouraging their husbands to spend more time with their friends. In today's society there always will be tensions in balancing work, family, and social life. Those women who work outside the home and still have to take care of the domestic chores understandably want their husbands home as much as possible in the evenings and on weekends. However, if a wife insists that the husband always be at home when he is not at work, she may be denying him the opportunity to make himself a better husband and father--and at the same depriving other men of the good example and influence her husband could provide. Although friendship is always personal, a wife should desire that her husband has the opportunity to make as many friends as she has.
posted by Chipi Buenafe at
10:33 AM
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