Sacramentalized or Eva‎ngelized?

These two words were used by the Archbishop of Cebu Jose Palma‎ when he officially opened the Theological Symposium on Jan. 22 as preliminary reflection before the celebration of the International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu City. What do words mean? And why the question mark?

“Sacramentalized”, according to Archbishop Palma, refers to those Catholics who have been baptized, confirmed and are receiving the sacrament of Holy Eucharist ‎in the Holy Mass they attend. But they do not know much about their Catholic faith. They know the Practice, not the Essence and Challenge, of the faith.

“Evangelized”‎, said the Cebu archbishop, are those Catholics who practice their faith which is based on and motivated by their knowledge of the nature and demands of the faith they profess. Their faith is one “that does justice”.

Archbishop Palma’s statement was simply a perception, which is shared by many‎, that “most of us Filipino Catholics are sacramentalized rather than evangelized”. While this is seemingly the perception of many bishops, priests and consecrated men and women, this way of thinking is not clear. Hence the question mark in the title of this article.