A. Because they are recommended in the Gospel. _Evangelism_ is the Latin word for gospel. _1. Poverty._ Q. Which is the first of the evangelical counsels? A. Voluntary poverty. That means renouncing the use of money and possessions by our own free will to follow Christ. Q. What is the advantage of this counsel? A. The practice of this counsel uproots a most dangerous passion: "For they that will become rich fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men into destruction and perdition." Q. Is there any special blessing promised to those who follow this counsel? A. Yes: "Every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting." Q. Is this counsel given to all? A. The Fathers of the Church teach that this counsel is recommended to all. The above words of Our Lord are unrestricted: "And _every one_ that hath left house, or brethren," etc. _2. Perpetual Chastity._ Q. Which is the second evangelical counsel? A. Perpetual chastity; that is, a voluntary abstaining from marriage in order to dedicate one's self in a more special manner to the love and service of God and to the great work of salvation. Q. Is this counsel recommended in the Sacred Scriptures and in the Fathers? A. It certainly is, as we have seen in the chapter on "Virginity." Q. Is this counsel of chastity recommended to all? A. This counsel, as well as the other two evangelical counsels, is recommended to all. The Fathers say that these words, "He that can take, let him take it," mean, He that _is willing_ to take this counsel let him take it. And St. Paul says: "I would that _all men_ were even as myself." Q. What if one should exhort people in general to choose matrimony as a state preferable to perpetual chastity? A. Such a one would be speaking against faith, as we have seen in the chapter on "Virginity." The "Catechism of the Council of Trent" says: "As it is the duty of the pastor to propose to himself the holiness and perfection of the faithful, his earnest desires _must be in full accordance_ with those of the Apostle when, writing to the Corinthians, he says: 'I would that all men were even as myself;' that is," continue the Fathers of Trent, "that all embraced the virtue of continence." The marginal _resume_ of this paragraph in the "Catechism of the Council of Trent" is: "A life of continence _to be desired by all_." _3. Obedience._ Q. Which is the third evangelical counsel? A. Entire obedience; that is, a total subjection of one's will to that of lawful superiors in all that is not sin. Q. What Scripture warrant have we for this counsel?