The process of evangelization
On the one hand, there is a need for evangelization, but on the other hand, there is a need to pray to the Lord for evangelizations to be organized in a certain rhythm, because although they bring zeal and dedication, and one can say a spiritual harvest in their climax, they are just like the exodus from Egypt. Then follows the Red Sea and the desert, i.e. a series of trials, which are also symbolized by snakes that bit the Israelites when they grumbled, in which period God purified their hearts. And then the people of God came to the land of Canaan, but we see that they very quickly turned away to pagan practices again, as described in the Book of Judges, and actually in the entire history of Israel. The tendency to go back to the old way of life – paganism and the cult of the old self connected with it – continues. The climax comes with the coming of Christ, His death and glorious Resurrection and then the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In the Apostolic period, we see the zeal of an evangelist and missionary particularly in the life of St Paul. After that, all of the Apostles died martyrs and a period of a bloody persecution of Christians followed. It was not yet over when Arianism arose. Heresies arose even at the time of the Apostle Paul, and John the Apostle had to fight against them too. Saint Paul speaks of false apostles, through whom the devil transforms himself into an angel of light (see 2Cor 11). The Apostle John says that many antichrists have come. We can also see in the Book of Revelation that the Church goes through certain stages and it is always a spiritual struggle. The prophets and the faithful of Christ were first persecuted by pagan rulers and later on by the servants of the devil dressed in vestments. We see this in the period of John Huss when both he and Jerome of Prague were burnt at the stake (30 May marked the 600th anniversary). Jerome was a true hero. Peter denied Christ and then repented; similarly, Jerome denied his Master but then repented in earnest.
We got through the 2nd millennium and entered the 3rd millennium – the next period of struggle. We need to be persecuted, or we ourselves need to work hard to chase our old self, so as not to quench the Spirit and to allow Christ to live in us. And right here fellowship is of great importance. If we live in fellowship with others, there are moments when we need to talk together about our weaknesses or negative traits but also about our positive ones. However, it needs an appropriate time. Thereafter, it is necessary to continue with prayer in common, in which we can receive the peace of Christ, and thanks to the brotherly admonition we obtain a kind of experience and we even experience Jesus’ closeness.
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