“Evangelisation, it’s a big word, it’s a very special word …”

Bishop René Ramirez RCJ opened the Sandhurst Formation Institute by inviting participants to look beyond the Church language and ask a simple question: what does evangelisation actually mean in our daily lives and in our parishes?

Even as a priest, Bishop René admitted that it took him years to fully understand the meaning of evangelisation.

The Gospel passage for the opening session, Matthew 28:18-20, is known as the “Great Commission”, in which Jesus sends the baptised to “Go and preach the Good News, baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

But, Bishop René asked, what does that look like in practice?

He reflected on how easily the Church can use big words without unpacking their meaning. Jesus, he noted, communicated profound truths about God through simple stories and meaningful words – words spoken with intent.

“Without intent, how can we enrich or touch people?” he asked.

Bishop René recalled a simple prayer taught to him by a teacher when he was in Grade 4 at a public school: “Jesus mercy, Mary, help.”

Decades later, the prayer remains with him. During his years in the seminary, he came to appreciate its theological depth and simplicity.

“ ‘Jesus mercy, Mary, help.’ It still rings in my ear.”

He encouraged participants to bring the same simplicity and authenticity to their understanding of mission. “My hope is that we might be able to unpack our understanding of what mission is. What does it really mean practically? Not the big words, not the big concepts, but what do we bring home to put into practice in our parishes?”

Drawing on the words of a Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who once said, “evangelisation … is a conversation about Jesus,” Bishop René described evangelisation as simply talking about Jesus and sharing our faith stories with each other.

It sounds simple, he acknowledged. But, are we creating opportunities for those conversations to happen in our parishes?

“We go to Mass, receive Communion, receive a blessing, then we go home. Is there even a chance that we cultivate in our parishes a means to communicate our faith stories?”

He challenged participants to consider how well they know the people sitting beside them each Sunday.

“Have we asked why our fellow parishioner has been here for the past ten years, and we don’t even know his faith story?”

Bishop René ended his reflection with a call to courage and openness. Declining numbers in churches do not mean change is impossible, he said, but continuing to do only what has always been done risks reinforcing that decline.

“If we just do the things that we have always done, I think we will fuel the trajectory of decline.”

The challenge, he said, is to retain the good while being willing to experiment, invest time and effort, and approach new possibilities with an open mind.

“Keep the good things, but let us be courageous in opening up and trying new things.”