Editor’s Note: Many delegates from the Diocese of Trenton who attended the Convocation of Catholic Leaders July 1-4 in Orlando, Fla., took time to write heartfelt reflections upon their return home. Following, Diana Hernandez, Bonds of Marian Love missionary, shares her thoughts.

By Diana Hernandez

“I should not have to face this alone. Scripture itself tells me I should not have to,” a gentleman insisted during a session, speaking of his experience with cancer. He was right: every person deserves to know that he or she is not alone. God is with them. He brings meaning and hope into life and even into suffering. But if we want people to know that God is by their side, you and I need to be by them as well, so that we can introduce Him. That introduction is crucial.

As I reflected upon the cancer survivor’s comment, I realized that sometimes I misunderstand evangelization. I fall into the trap of thinking that sharing the faith is like suggesting a good restaurant to a friend: “I like the Church (or this restaurant), so maybe you should check it out, too.”

This understanding turns evangelizing into an optional activity with little to lose if it is not carried out. But the gentleman’s comment made it clear to me that evangelization is less like recommending a restaurant, and more like walking a thirsting person to an inexhaustible fountain of water. It is not an option but a duty that love demands from us. Helping someone discover God and his Church is the greatest act of charity, for it brings fulfillment to the greatest longing of the human heart: intimate closeness with its Creator.

One would hope I knew the importance of sharing our Lord already, for I am a Bonds of Marian Love missionary. This is an ecclesial movement in which evangelization is every activity’s goal. The lay people who serve as our missionaries – students, moms, dads, workers, grandparents – are constantly striving to help people encounter God through retreats, education in the faith, prayer and their daily life. And yet, even surrounded by these missionaries and passionate about Bonds of Marian Love myself, at times I have caught myself seeing evangelization as a secondary responsibility. Could that be happening to you?

As one panelist at the convocation reminded us, please know that a person thirsting for God needs you right now – specifically you – to quench that thirst. Please allow God to love you, for he will make that love overflow. And please let it overflow, so that he may love that person through you.