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The proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life. We evangelize through loving and bold words of encouragement to join us in Christ through the Church that He instituted. We evangelize also by leading a holy life; the Holy Spirit can call others through our good example.
The difference between catechesis and evangelization is this: catechesis is presented in an organic and systematic way, with equal emphasis on each area. Evangelization puts greater emphasis on areas of special interest to a particular inquirer.
CCC 905 “Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life. For lay people, this evangelization acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world.”
Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, published by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964, explains: 35
Christ is the great prophet who proclaimed the kingdom of the Father both by the testimony of his life and by the power of his word. Until the full manifestation of his glory, he fulfills this prophetic office, not only by the hierarchy who teach in his name and by his power, but also by the laity. He accordingly both establishes them as witnesses and provides them with the appreciation of the faith (sensus fidei) and the grace of the word cf. Acts 2:17-18; Rev. 19:10 so that the power of the Gospel may shine out in daily family and social life. They show themselves to be the children of the promise if, strong in faith and hope, they make the most of the present time Eph 5:16; Col. 4:5, and with patience await the future glory cf. Rom. 8:25. Let them not hide this their hope then, in the depths of their hearts, but rather express it through the structure of their secular lives in continual conversion and in wrestling “against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of iniquity” Eph. 6:12.
As the sacraments of the New Laws which nourish the life and the apostolate of the faithful, prefigure the new heaven and the new earth cf. Rev. 21:1, so too the laity become powerful heralds of the faith in things to be hoped for cf. Heb. 11:1 if they join unhesitating profession of faith to the life of faith. This evangelization, that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life, acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world.
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