Not ordinary bread, please, but the Bread of Life

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Jan 10, 2025

One of the most encouraging recent news stories is this one: “Philadelphia archbishop launches plan for ‘missionary hubs’. Without intending an excessively invidious comparison, I will mention that many dioceses place a great deal of emphasis on their programs for materially assisting those who are materially poor, but far fewer seem to emphasize their programs for spiritually assisting those who are spiritually poor.

You might argue that this should be a priority of every pastor within the boundaries of his parish, but pastors often have their hands full with the needs of those who at least periodically darken the church doors. I’m not saying that marriages and funerals should not be opportunities to gently re-evangelize the participants, but this is not the same thing as managing a crusade of evangelical outreach. In Philadelphia, at least, something more systematic is going to be attempted. It would be good to know more about the various kinds of efforts being made in other dioceses. (Feel free to chime in using our Sound Off! feature beneath this commentary.)

One problem we have in today’s world in the West is our mutual isolation apart from the workplace (for those who still commute to business premises). Radio, television, air conditioning and the breakdown of cohesive neighborhoods over the past sixty or so years have made it far less likely that influential neighborhood ties will lead to greater spiritual solidarity. When good Catholic families are surrounded by non-Christian households of every imaginable kind and with every imaginable set of values, it becomes increasingly difficult for evangelization to grow naturally out of neighborhood friendships. As I mentioned in my last commentary (Prophetic courage in the public square, and everywhere), it takes more courage now to spread the Gospel among those around us either at work or in our neighborhoods than it did a few generations back—not that this was ever easy for most of us.

Programs or people

There is an old joke that “it’s not the heat, it’s the humility.” What is meant, of course, is not the “humility” but the “humiliation”. These are two different things, since a person with genuine humility can no longer be humiliated despite how hard we may try. This may even explain why so much evangelization has been carried out in former centuries by clerical missionaries sent out, or religious orders set up, for that purpose—men and women schooled in humility. Now, in the “age of the laity”, and in highly-mechanized cultures that are no longer village-centric (let alone village-centric outdoors), we need diocesan-sponsored outreach programs which create a presence of evangelical Catholics in strategic locations where others can respond to Christ’s invitation to “come and see”. And there is no substitute for an unshakeable spiritual humility in making this possible.

Formal programs have little value without real people willing to make themselves present in the kinds of communities we have today, in which there is typically a lack of habitual interaction “in the streets”. This calls for both creative positioning and creative promotion of the available possibilities for inquiry. If we cannot (or will not) deliberately seek out others individually to bring the Gospel into their lives, at least we can find ways to make particular locations available and known to potential inquirers. We do this for the corporal works of mercy now with food pantries nearly everywhere, and often with free clinics. This new Philadelphia idea seems to be aimed now at establishing widely-advertised locations for the spiritual works of mercy.

The mere presence of churches is not enough. It is big step for someone to visit a church and navigate his or her way through the physical plant and the staff arrangements to find someone to talk with about spiritual interests, doubts, desires, and fears. It makes perfect sense to have designated locations deliberately staffed for precisely this purpose, and it can only help to advertise them as widely as possible. The goal is or ought to be availability without that intrusiveness which is now so abhorred in our contemporary culture.

Scattered havens

I was about to comment that we need more of this “outside the box” thinking, but I admit that designated indoor locations are still to some extent “inside the box”. This is not street corner evangelization, but once these boxes are created, they can be made nearly box-proof if they are adequately staffed, if they feature a very broad range of hours when lay apostles along with priests and religious (perhaps in many cases retired) can be counted on to be available to those who simply walk in when the Spirit moves them. Along with consistently-available personnel, I would add some simple refreshments (especially hot or cold drinks depending on the season) and some helpful free literature about what it means to be a Catholic and how to return to active practice of the Faith.

Of course, information on how to get help with all kinds of human needs ought to be available, but in what Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia is calling “missionary hubs”, the primary purpose should be clearly spiritual. The goal is to acquaint visitors with Christ and the Church either initially or by way of a return engagement. Again, the necessary keys to success will be accessibility and Catholic staff who are deeply committed to spreading the Gospel. This is an opportunity to engage people spiritually, which includes the ability to direct visitors elsewhere if they have material needs. But such centers must not become known primarily for their material services.

No, in this context materiality can too easily become a distraction, indeed an excuse not to concentrate on the one thing needful (Lk 10:42). The point must not be just another take on the corporal works of mercy. As important as it is to help people materially, it is more important by far to help them spiritually. Yes, it is very important to guide people to where they can get bread. But it is infinitely more important to prepare them to receive the Bread of Life.