The other day I had a discussion with someone in regards to Saint Junipero Serra who said how badly the Saint had treated the natives. And then just yesterday my daughter came home and told me what she is learning about Christopher Columbus* in school – effectively the same thing that was said about St. Serra. And so I feel compelled to write a small piece on this. My hope is to encourage the readers to dig a little further, to search the facts, and learn about our call to evangelization. The fall out of evangelization is that there are many who won’t accept it, and will turn against you and make all sorts of accusations against you. Some might be half-truths, and others all out lies – Satan may use some truth in order to mask his lies for his greater plan. I hope you will share this and educate others. God bless –
*It is understood that while Christopher Columbus didn’t discover America on purpose nor was it specifically for evangelization, the net result of his discovery in concert with his deep Catholic faith was to bring Christianity to the native people and to our Continent.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” Matthew 28:19
This is God’s spoken Word become Flesh! The Son of God.
From the beginning of creation, through Noah, Israel, the Prophets, and culminating with God sending His own Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord has worked with us and through us to covert the world to Himself. It is our purpose in life: to know, love and serve God and be with Him for all eternity in Heaven!
It never was enough to let the ignorant remain in darkness, to let the heathen practice abominable worship of false gods. The Lord on occasion, because of the hardness of the hearts of some, would let those people succumb to their own destruction. But He never suggested that we should “leave them alone as long as they’re not hurting anyone”. This is a new false concept of tolerance – and it has invaded our schools and our culture – leaving Christopher Columbus and Saint Junipero Serra to be confused as conquerors and aggressors. But if one does their diligence in investigation, one finds that the facts get distorted based on the agenda of those reporting them.
This post is in defense of them, and all Christians, the Saints in particular. It is our call to bring the Good News to the whole world. The Saints have all done this in a special way through their heroic virtues. And they continue to do it through their intercession and devotion to us on earth.
Take a look at what people said of Jesus while He was evangelizing –
–He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. (Luke 23:5)
-Where then did this man get all these things? And they took offense at him. (Matthew 13:56 and 57).
–All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. (Luke 4:28 and 29)
–At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! (John 8:52)
-At this, they picked up stones to stone him (John 8:59)
Jesus wasn’t well loved by all. But He didn’t come into the world to be loved. He came to give Love.
The root of evangelization is the desire placed in us by God to Love other people. For it is through authentic Love that we wish the very best for that person. Yes, they may be “okay” the way they are. Yes, they may not be “hurting anyone else”. But our desire to evangelize them isn’t predicated on them feeling okay and not hurting other people. Our desire to evangelize them comes from our desire for them to share in the full knowledge of the Loving God who created them! This same desire is felt by a father for his children in fact. A father never just wants his child to feel okay and not hurt others. A Loving father wants the best for them. Fathers at times use force to make children eat their vegetables – even though eating mac and cheese makes them feel okay and doesn’t hurt anyone else! They get children up early to go to school – even though sleeping in bed all day makes them feel okay and doesn’t hurt anyone else. Our desire to evangelize is the same. Those to whom we are called to evangelize don’t always have to be barbaric thugs and criminals. We are called to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ even to every creature (Mark 16:15). God calls us away from “okay”. He wants us to be PERFECT ( See Matthew 5:48).
Learn more about Christopher Columbus here:
Learn more about St. Junipero Serra here:
There are many sources to learn more about them and other Saints via a simple google search – you can also browse through our Recommended Links page.