“New evangelization,” a term introduced by Pope John Paul II
during his apostolic visit to Poland, is a call to re-awaken the Church to have
“the courage to forge new paths in responding to the changing circumstances and
conditions facing the Church in her call to proclaim and live the Gospel today”
(Linementa 5). It should be “capable
in every situation of demonstrating that the Spirit guides her and transforms
the history of the Church, of individual Christians and of entire peoples and
their culture” (Linementa 17). New
evangelization is particularly needed in the “traditionally Christian
countries” (Linementa Preface), but
with the unprecedented growth of human consciousness and development of
technology in the modern era, there is an urgent need for the Church, both at
the universal and local levels to respond adequately to the changing
circumstances facing herself, the local communities and the humanity as a
whole, so that the power of the Gospel of Jesus can remain relevant and even
become more convincing to all Christians and non-believers alike in facing various
challenges in this modern world.
Evangelization concerns with proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus
according to the missionary mandate given by the Lord to his Apostles before
his glorious Ascension (Matthew 28:19-20), regardless of whether it is an
initial proclamation of the Gospel to arouse people’s interest in Jesus,
calling them to faith and conversion; or catechumenate to nurture their faith
in a systematic manner for incorporation into the Christian community; or
post-catechumenate and other pastoral formation programs to make them true
disciples of the Lord, continuously matured in their faith and prayer lives,
nourished by God’s grace in the sacraments, and engaged in works of charity and
missionary as Christ’s witnesses (c.f. GDC
48). It is the foremost mission of the Church and baptized Christians to
evangelize the world with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of Jesus is “not
so much a system of articles of faith and moral precepts, much less a political
program, but a person: Jesus Christ, the definitive Word of God, who became
man” (Linementa 11). Unfortunately,
our existing ecclesial and pastoral practices on evangelization and catechesis focus
too much on the transmission of a set of doctrines, rules and rites to the
people being catechized, and simply not doing enough to help them establish a
personal relationship with Jesus so that their faith will become mature enough
to “think like him, to judge like him, to act in conformity with his
commandments, and to hope as he invites us to” (Catechesis Tradendae 20).
In this modern world, solely transmitting a set of doctrines and rules is not
conducive to achieving “the definitive aim of catechesis, (which) is to put
people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ: only
he can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the
life of the Holy Trinity” (CT 5).
Rather, the Church would need to transmit faith and revelation to many more
people who are seeking to be catechized and baptized, and to Catholics too:
those non-church goers, especially youths who were baptized in infancy, and
even church-goers who are regrettably “ritualized” by sacraments without any personal
touch of and by the Word, making the divine grace impenetrable to their hearts
and souls.
The modern world is characterized by high connectivity,
“crowdsourcing” of ideas and efforts, and rapid technological advancement.
Proliferation of the Internet and social media has undoubtedly shortened the
physical distance for human communication, but at the same time posed major
challenges on the establishment of genuine relationships between people. Whether
you like it or not, the rapid dissemination of information via the social media
is capable of conveying anti-christ messages of pornography, dishonesty, materialism,
utilitarianism, hatred and even terrorism. Likewise, advancement in
biotechnology is good only
when it is designed and implemented in an ethical manner, respecting human life
and dignity and conducive to true and integral human growth and development.
Moreover, rapid economic development, especially in capitalist economies,
results in growth in wealth but also widens the poverty gap causing a wide
range of social problems in a society. Facing all these dilemmas, how can
evangelization achieve its mission to transmit faith and the Gospel values to
different people who are facing various challenges in their daily work and
lives? Personal attachment to Jesus can certainly help them overcome the
challenges and difficulties. The
Gospel of Jesus that “we proclaim in evangelization or catechesis will not be
meaningful and appear relevant unless it appears as a human word,” which
“deepens people’s yearning, that meets them in their life-situations, that
starts from and recognizes their problems and difficulties, that appeals to
their highest values and fulfills their deepest aspirations” (Amalorpavadass 358). Giving hope, “a trustworthy hope”
to modern people so that they can “face (their) present, even if it is arduous”
for achieving a goal which can “justify the effort of (an earthly) journey” (Spe salvi 1) has become ever more important and urgent.
Can we help people recognize and interpret the signs of divine
revelation in this modern world in the light of the Gospel of Jesus? “New
evangelization” is well positioned to help achieve this objective by drawing
people of different social, economic, political, cultural and religious
backgrounds closer to Jesus and allowing them to be impregnated by the Logos, who is “the total, ultimate, and
definite revelation of God, as well as the complete and perfect response of
humanity” (Amalorpavadass 348). Once a heart is converted to Christ, one's lifestyle will also change. Despite that the change can be counter-cultural in this materialistic world, Christians can show to others that it is possible to live out the Gospel and share the joy and love with others by living a simpler yet more meaningful life. Hopefully through this, baptized
Christians can bear true witness to Christ and in turn become missionaries
themselves in evangelizing the world through their words and deeds resembling
Christ.
Obviously, there remain massive efforts, many of which are
systemic in nature, which have to be made at various levels of the Church to
realize the vision of “new evangelization.” The related tasks of the Church
include but are not limited to: universal (e.g., deepening the understanding and
imminent need of new evangelization among bishops, pastors, the religious and
the laity, coordinating the work of different dicateries of the Roman Curia to
promote the movement, etc.), diocesan (e.g., reviewing and reprioritizing the
work of the catechetical commission, more and enhanced training for pastors, seminarians
and catechists, etc.), parish (e.g., organizing catechism lessons targeted at
different age groups, enriching the liturgical lives of lay Catholics by the
Word, finding and developing more sponsors and mentors capable of transmitting
faith, etc.), ecumenical (e.g., cooperating with other Christian denominations to
co-organize Bible study groups, theological dialogues, charity work, etc.), college
(e.g., facilitating faculty members and students to organize evangelization
activities to cultivate faith, providing resources to strengthen cooperation
among tertiary institutions in related research, etc.), school (e.g., organizing
lessons for Catholic students to learn and strengthen their faith by schools
run by the diocese and religious communities); family (e.g., educating and
encouraging Catholic parents to pray and share Gospel messages with their
children), and individuals (e.g., willingness to embrace a “cultural” change
from a sacerdotal to a People of God mindset). The road ahead is long and winding
yet the reward is immeasurable, not only making possible the intimate communion
between those people seeking for God and our Lord Jesus Christ, but also promoting
fraternity among local and global citizens in charity and hope for creating a
better world which is compatible to the Kingdom of God.
Works Cited
Amalorpavadass, D.S. “Catechesis
as a Pastoral Task of the Church,” Sourcebook
for Modern Catechetics, Ed. Michael Warren, Saint Mary’s Press, 1983, pp.
339-360
Pope
Benedict XVI. Lineamenta on the new
evangelization. Vatican, n.d. Web. 04 Feb.
2017.
--. Spe salvi. Vatican, n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.
Pope
John Paul II. Catechesis Tradendae. Vatican,
n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.
The General Directory for Catechesis (GDC). Vatican, n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.
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