Bishop Conley on Evangelizers Having an Intimate Relationship with Jesus

“St. Augustine was converted to Christianity through the voice of child calling to him under a fig tree in Milan. The voice cried the famous words ‘tolle lege, tolle lege’ — ‘take up and read, take up and read.’

“Augustine picked up the Letter to the Romans, and read the words of St. Paul: ‘Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provisions for the flesh.’ He did put on Christ, in that moment of faith, and in baptism thereafter. When he put on Christ, he became a new man. St. Augustine said that in that moment ‘something was infused in my heart like the light of full certainty.’

“St. Augustine was converted by an encounter with the living God — with Jesus Christ. It was Christ who opened the Scriptures to him that day. Of course, Augustine became a prolific theologian, a competent bishop and a consummate churchman. His work helped to define the course of Christianity in the early centuries. But Augustine became, and remained, above all, a disciple of Jesus Christ. He encountered not a concept or a doctrine beneath that fig tree, but a person — Jesus of Nazareth, who set his heart aflame.

“After his conversion, Augustine came under the tutelage of St. Ambrose, the holy bishop of Milan. It was through Ambrose that the conversion of Augustine began to bear fruit. It was through Ambrose that the Augustine’s kerygmatic encounter with Christ developed into a full, healthy, spiritual life.”

In a recent commentary, Bishop James D. Conley, of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, reflected on the importance – for evangelizers as well as for those being evangelized – of forming an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus.

“It is said that people today have more questions about the faith than ever before, and there are fewer people trained to answer those questions than ever before. . . . If the Year of Faith is to bear fruit, and if the New Evangelization is to be an authentic renewal of Christian life and culture, it will be because more Catholics have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. There can be no effective ministry that is not the fruit of the maturity, discernment, and vision that comes from life in Christ.”

To access Bishop Conley’s complete reflection, please visit:

Catholic Pulse: Evangelizing the Evangelizers (14 OCT 13)