PEOPLE WILL NOT ACCEPT JESUS BASED ON THE WORD OF THE CHURCH, BUT THEY WILL ACCEPT THE CHURCH BASED ON THE WORD OF JESUS. THE CHRISTIAN FAITH WAS BORN WITH OPENNESS. JESUS TOLD HIS APOSTLES TO GO into the world (MK 16:15), TO make disciples of all nations (MT 28:19), TO BE HIS WITNESSES to the ends of the earth (ACTS 1:8), TO PREACH TO ALL NATIONS THE repentance and forgiveness of sins (LK 24:47). THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TODAY: TO AWAKEN IN CHRISTIANS AT LEAST IN THOSE WHO WISH TO DEDICATE THEMSELVES TO THE WORK OF RE-EVANGELIZATION, THE INTIMATE CERTAINTY OF GHE TRUTH OF WHAT THEY PROCLAIM. THE CHURCH, POPE PAUL VI ONCE SAID, needs to regain the eagerness, the zest, and the certainty of its truth. WE OURSELVES MUST BE THE FIRST TO BELIEVE IN WHAT WE PROCLAIM. WE MUST TRULY BELIEVE IT. WE MUST BE ABLE TO SAY WITH PAUL, But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture - I believed, and so I spoke - we also believe, and so we speak (2 COR 4:13). THE NEW EVANGELIZATION WILL DEPEND ON THE DEGREE OF FAITH THAT IT SUCCESSFULLY BRINGS FORTH IN THE CHURCH AMONG THE EVANGELIZERS THEMSELVES. WE NEED TO OVERCOME AN EXCESSIVE POLARIZATION THAT EXISTS PRACTICALLY EVERYWHERE IN THE CHURCH, BUT IS PARTICULARLY IN ACUTE LATIN AMERICA, ESPECIALLY IN PAST YEARS. THIS IS THE POLARIZATION BETWEEN THE ACTIVE SOUL AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE SOUL, BETWEEN THE CHURCH OF SOCIAL COMMITMENT TO THE POOR AND THE CHURCH THAT PROCLAIMS THE FAITH. BEFORE SUCH DIFFERENCES, WE ARE INSTINCTIVELY TEMPTED TO TAKE THE SIDES AND PRAISE ONE POSITION WHILE DESPISING THE OTHER. THE DOCTRINE OF CHARISMS, HOWEVER, SHOULD SAVE US FROM THAT STRUGGLE. ONE OF THE GIFTS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THAT IT IS catholic, THAT IS, OPEN TO RECEIVING DIVERSE GIFTS FROM THE SAME SPIRIT. THE CHURCH HAS ROOM FOR THE ONE AS WELL AS THE OTHER. MOREOVER, WE NEED EACH OTHER, SINCE NO INDIVIDUAL CAN FULFILL ALL THE DEMANDS OF THE ENTIRE GOSPEL AND REPRESENT CHRIST IN ALL ASPECTS OF HIS LIFE. EACH PERSON SHOULD, THEREFORE, REJOICE THAT OTHERS CAN DO WHAT HE OR SHE CANNOT: THOSE DEDICATED TO THE SPIRITUAL LIFE AND THE PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD SHOULD REJOICE THAT OTHERS HAVE COMMITTED THEMSELVES TO SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN ADVANCEMENT, AND VICE VERSA. SAINT PAULS ADMONITION IS ALWAYS VALID, Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another (ROM 14:13). IN 1981, JOHN PAUL II ADMONISHED: The whole work of the renewal of the Church, so providentially set forth and initiated by the Second Vatican Council...can be carried out only in the Holy Spirit, that is to say, with the aid of his light and his power. The Holy Spirit, said Saint Bonaventure, goes where he is loved, where he is invited, where he is awaited. WE MUST OPEN OUR COMMUNITIES TO THE BREATH OF THE SPIRIT. WHO RENEWS PRAYER, LIFE IN COMMUNITY, LOVE FOR CHRIST, AND, ALONG WITH THIS, MISSIONARY ZEAL. WE MUST CERTAINLY LOOK BACK TO OUR ORIGINS AND FOUNDERS, BUT ALSO LOOK AHEAD. AT THIS POINT, IF WE WANT TO RE-EVANGELIZE THE POST-CHRISTIAN WORLD, WE MUST MAKE A CHOICE. WHERE SHOULD WE BEGIN - AT ANY POINT ALONG THE WAKE, OR FROM ITS BEGINNING? THE IMMENSE ABUNDANCE OF DOCTRINE, INSTITUTIONS, THEOLOGY, LITURGY, LAWS, TRADITION WITH ITS MAGISTERIAL TEACHING AND SPIRITUALITY CAN BECOME A HANDICAP IF WE TRY TO PRESENT THIS TO THE PERSON WHO HAS LOST ALL THE CONTACT WITH THE CHURCH AND NO LONGER KNOWS WHO JESUS IS. IT WOULD BE LIKE VESTING A CHILD ALL AT ONCE WITH ONE OF THOSE OLD, HUGE, HEAVY BROCADED LITURGICAL COPES. IT WOULD CRUSH HIM. INSTEAD, WE MUST HELP THESE PEOPLE ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. BISHOP CHRISTOPHER J. COYNE, SLDs ANSWER WHENEVER A PERSON ASKS, HOW DO I EVANGELIZE? HOW DO I SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS? IS: Talk about Jesus. Talk about Jesus. Talk about Jesus.A VERY SIMPLE ANSWER. EVANGELIZING IS FIRST AND FOREMOST ENGAGING SOMEONE IN CONVERSING ABOUT THE PERSON, JESUS CHRIST: WHAT HE MEANS TO YOU AS LORD AND SAVIOR, WHAT HE MEANS TO OTHERS AS LORD AND SAVIOR, AND WHAT IT MEANS TO THE WORLD AS ITS LORD AND SAVIOR. AS SIMPLE AS THIS IS, WE COMPLICATE THE WORK OF EVANGELIZATION. WE OFTEN IMITATE NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN GENERAL WHO IS TOLD BY THE PROPHET ELISHA TO BATHE IN THE RIVER JORDAN SEVEN TIMES AND HIS LEPROSY WILL BE CURED. AT FIRST NAAMAN REACTS IN ANGER BECAUSE IT IS TOO SIMPLE, TOO EASY: Is that all I need to do? I have leprosy! It should take more than that! WHEN CONVINCED BY HIS SERVANT TO TRY IT, NAAMAN BATHES IN THE RIVER SEVEN TIMES AND IS CURED (see 2 KGS 5). THE WORK OF EVANGELIZATION IS ROOTED IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST. IT IS A WORK THAT HAS BEEN AN EXPLICIT PART OF THE CHURCHS MISSION SINCE ITS VERY FOUNDATION: And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (MT 28:18-20). WE NEED TO DO WITH THEM WHAT THE SPIRIT-FILLED SAINT PETER AS THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY UNFOLDED AFTER PENTECOST WITH THE THREE THOUSAND PEOPLE PRESENT: SPEAK TO THEM ABOUT THIS CRUCIFIED JESUS WHOM GOD RAISED UP. WE SHOULD TAKE THEM TO THE POINT AT WHICH THEY, TOO, CUT TO THE HEART, SHALL ASK, Brothers, what should we do? THEN, WE SHALL RESPOND WITH THE WORDS OF PETER, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit...(ACTS 2:37ff), if you are not yet baptized, or confess, if you already have been. IT IS NOT THE HOW OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION, ESPECIALLY AS IT INVOLVES EVANGELIZATION WITHIN AND THROUGH THE DIGITAL CULTURE (VIDEO, INTERNET, TEXTING, AND SO ON), IT IS THE WHAT OF EVANGELIZATION THAT IS PRIMARY: WHAT IS IT WE ARE TRYING TO DO, AND WHAT IS IT WE ARE TRYING TO CONVEY IN THE NEW EVANGELIZATION? THE NEW AS WELL AS THE OLD MEANS OF COMMUNICATION ARE THERE FOR THE CHURH TO USE AS EMPTY VESSELS WAITING TO BE FILLED. WE DO NOT HAVE TO INVENT THE MEANS. WHAT WE HAVE TO DO IS FOCUS THE CONTENT FROM WHAT TO WHO - THE PERSON, JESUS CHRIST, AND THEN, WITH THE HOLY SPIRITS GRACE, TO HELP PEOPLE CONNECT WITH JESUS. THE FOCUS OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION IS THE KERYGMA, THAT IS, THE PROCLAIMING OF THE GOOD NEWS THAT IS ORDERED TO A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS THAT HE MAKES POSSIBLE, TOGETHER WITH HIS CALL TO DAILY REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. THIS KERYGMA, THIS WORK OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION, IS DONE THE WORLD OVER IN PARTICULAR PLACES AND CULTURES. WHILE JESUS IS the same yesterday and today and forever (HEB 13:8), how JESUS IS PROCLAIMED MUST TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE CULTURE AND LAND. FATHER CANTALAMESSA DRAWS ESSENTIAL DIRECTION FROM THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER: This parable, in and of itself, tells us that the essential reason for the success of the Christian mission does not come from outside but from within. It is not the work of the sower, or even principally of the land, but of the seed. The seed cannot sow itself on its own, yet it sprouts automatically and of itself. After having sown the seed, the sower can even go to sleep, for the life of the seed no longer depends on him. When this seed is the seed that falls into the earth and dies, that is, Jesus Christ, nothing can prevent it from bearing much fruit (see JN 12:24). People can give all the explanations they want for this fruit, but those will always remain superficial and will never arrive at the essential. THE PARABLE SOUNDS A CAUTION: the effort of the new evangelization faces two dangers: one is inertia, laziness, not doing anything and letting others do all the work; the other is launching into many busy but ultimately empty human activities. THERE ARE MANY SEEDS OF CHRIST THAT, WHEN CAREFULLY WATERED AND FED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WILL IMPLANT IN OUR HEARTS SO THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING FORTH A HARVEST OF PLENTY TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER. HOW AND WHEN WILL DEPEND ON OUR CREATIVE ABILITY. AND IT CAN VARY, AS HAPPENED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: FROM PETERS DISCOURSE TO THE LARGE CROWD ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST, OR PERSON TO PERSON, LIKE PHILIP TO THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH OF QUEEN CANDACE (see ACTS 8:27). THOSE WHO SHALL RESPOND TO THE ANNOUNCEMENT WILL UNITE, AS THEY DID THEN, AROUND THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS. THEY WILL LISTEN TO THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES AND PARTAKE IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD. DEPENDING ON THE CALL AND RESPONSE OF EACH PERSON, LITTLE BY LITTLE THEY WILL MAKE THEIR OWN THAT IMMENSE HERITAGE BORN OF THE KERYGMA. PEOPLE WILL NOT ACCEPT JESUS BASED ON THE WORD OF THE CHURCH, BUT THEY WILL ACCEPT THE CHURCH BASED ON THE WORD OF JESUS. THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES THE RECIPIENTS OF THE MESSAGE HAVE CHANGED BUT NOT THE MESSAGE ITSELF. IT IS TRUE THAT THE ESSENCE OF THE PROCLAMATION CANNOT CHANGE; HOWEVER, THE WAY OF PRESENTING IT, ITS PRIORITIES, AND THE DEPARTURE POINT OF THE MESSAGE ITSELF CAN AND MUST CHANGE. LET US SUMMARIZE THE UNFOLDING OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE UP TO OUR PRESENT ERA. FIRST CAME THE ANNOUNCEMENT MADE BY JESUS, WHICH HAS ITS CENTRAL THEME THE NEWS THAT the kingdom of God has come near. THIS UNIQUE AND UNREPEATABLE STAGE, WHICH WE CALL THE time of Jesus, WAS FOLLOWED AFTER EASTER BY THE time of the Church. IN THIS SECOND STAGE, JESUS WAS NO LONGER THE ANNOUNCER, BUT THE ONE ANNOUNCED; THE WORD Gospel NO LONGER MEANT (except in the four Gospels) the Good News brought BY Jesus, but the Good News ABOUT Jesus. IT HAD AS ITS OBJECT JESUS HIMSELF, AND, IN PARTICULAR, HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. THIS IS WHAT SAINT PAUL ALWAYS MEANT BY THE WORD Gospel. IT IS IMPORTANT, HOWEVER, TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO EXCESSIVELY SEPARATE THE TWO TIMES FROM THE TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS - THAT OF JESUS AND THAT OF THE CHURCH, OR (as some have been saying) THE historical Jesus FROM THE Christ of faith. JESUS IS NOT ONLY THE OBJECT OF THE CHURCHS PROCLAMATION, THAT WHICH IS ANNOUNCED. WOE TO US IF WE REDUCE HIM TO ONLY THIS! THAT WOULD MEAN TO objectify HIM AND DENY THE RESURRECTION. IN THE CHURCHS PROCLAMATION, IT IS THE RISEN CHRIST WHO, WITH HIS SPIRIT, STILL SPEAKS TODAY. HE IS ALSO THE SUBJECT WHO ANNOUNCES. AS A TEXT OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL SAYS, [Christ] is present in his word, since it is he himself who speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read in the Church. STARTING WITH THE ORIGINAL ANNOUNCEMENT, WE CAN SUMMARIZE THE SUCCESSIVE UNFOLDING OF THE PREACHING OF THE CHURCH WITH AN IMAGE SUGGESTED BY PEGUY. CONSIDER THE WAKE OF A GREAT SHIP: IT BEGINS IN A POINT, WHICH IS THE BOW OF THE SHIP. BUT IT CONTINUES TO BROADEN MORE AND MORE, UNTIL IT IS LOST IN THE HORIZON AND TOUCHES THE TWO OPPOSITE SHORES OF THE SEA. THIS IS WHAT CAME ABOUT THROUGH THE CHURCHS PROCLAMATION: IT BEGAN WITH A POINT - THE KERYGMA: CHRIST was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification (see ROM 4:25; 1 COR 15:3); AND, EXPRESSED IN AN EVEN MORE EMPHATIC AND CONCISE MANNER, Jesus is Lord (see ACTS 2:36; ROM 10:9). THE INITIAL EXPANSION OF THIS POINT OCCURRED WITH THE APPEARANCE OF THE FOUR GOSPELS (written to explain the initial core), AND THEN WITH THE REST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. THEN CAME THE TRADITION OF THE CHURCH WITH ITS MAGISTERIAL TEACHING, LITURGY, THEOLOGY, INSTITUTIONS, LAWS, AND SPIRITUALITY. THE END RESULT IS AN IMMENSE PATRIMONY, WHICH SUGGESTS PRECISELY THE WAKE OF A SHIP AS ITS MAXIMUM EXPANSION. NOW I WOULD LIKE TO TRY TO EXPLAIN WHY IT IS POSSIBLE TO BEGIN ANEW IN CHRISTIANITY AT ANY MOMENT FROM THE POINT OF THE SHIP, WITHOUT DECEIVING OURSELVES OR SIMPLY DIGGING UP THE PAST. THE REASON IS STRAIGHTFORWARD: THE SHIP STILL SAILS THE SEA AND ITS WAKE STILL BEGINS WITH ONE POINT! THE PHILOSOPHER SOREN KIERKEGAARD SAID SOME TRULY WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT THE FAITH AND ABOUT JESUS, YET ONE TOPIC I DO NOT AGREE WITH HIM. ONE OF HIS FAVORITE THEMES IS THAT OF THE CONTEMPORANEITY OF CHRIST. BUT HE UNDERSTANDS SUCH CONTEMPORANEITY TO MEAN THAT we SHOULD BE CONTEMPORARIES OF CHRIST. He who believes in Christ, HE WRITES, is obligated to be contemporaneous with him in his humbling of himself. THE IDEA IS THAT IN ORDER TO REALLY BELIEVE WITH THE SAME FAITH REQUIRED OF THE APOSTLES, WE MUST DISREGARD TWO THOUSAND YEARS OF HISTORY AND TESTIMONY ABOUT CHRIST AND PUT OURSELVES IN THE SHOES OF THOSE TO WHOM JESUS SPOKE, WHEN HE SAID FOR EXAMPLE, Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (MT 11:28). WHAT WOULD WE THINK OF A MAN WHO SAYS THIS, WHILE KNOWING THAT HE DOES NOT HAVE A STONE ON WHICH TO LAY HIS HEAD? NO. I THINK THAT THE TRUE CONTEMPORANEITY OF CHRIST IS SOMETHING ELSE. IT IS he WHO MAKES HIMSELF OUR CONTEMPORARY, BECAUSE, HAVING RISEN, HE LIVES IN THE SPIRIT AND IN THE CHURCH. IF WE WERE TO MAKE OURSELVES CONTEMPORARIES OF CHRIST, IT WOULD BE MERELY AN INTENTIONAL CONTEMPORANEITY, IF IT IS CHRIST WHO MAKES HIMSELF OUR CONTEMPORARY, IT IS A REAL CONTEMPORANEITY. ACCORDING TO A BOLD IDEA OF ORTHODOX SPIRITUALITY, ANAMNESIS, THAT IS, LITURGICAL MEMORIAL, IS A JOYOUS REMEMBRANCE THAT MAKES THE PAST MORE PRESENT THAN WHEN IT WAS LIVED. THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION. IN THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATION OF THE MASS, THE EVENT OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST BECOMES MORE REAL FOR ME THAN IT WAS TO THOSE WHO WERE ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY PRESENT AT THE EVENT: AT THAT TIME, THERE WAS A PRESENCE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, WHILE NOW, AFTER THE RESURRECTION AND PENTECOST, THE PRESENCE IS ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT. THE SAME THING HAPPENS WHEN ONE PROCLAIMS WITH FAITH, [The Lord] was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification (ROM 4:25). A FOURTH-CENTURY AUTHOR WRITES: For every man, the beginning of life is that moment when CHRIST was sacrificed for him, But CHRIST is sacrificed for him at the MOMENT WHEN HE RECOGNIZES THE GRACE AND BECOMES CONSCIOUS OF THE LIFE PROCURED FOR HIM BY THAT SACRIFICE. I REALIZE THAT THESE THINGS ARE DIFFICULT AND PERHAPS NOT EVEN POSSIBLE TO SAY TO PEOPLE, LET ALONE TO THOSE IN OUR SECULARIZED WORLD. BUT WE WHO EVANGELIZE MUST BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT THIS IN ORDER TO DRAW COURAGE FROM AND BELIEVE IN THE WORDS OF JOHN THE EVANGELIST WHO SAYS, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world (1 JN 4:4). THE LAY PEOPLE ARE THE NEW PROTAGONISTS IN THE PRESENT PHASE OF EVANGELIZATION. THEIR ROLE IN EVANGELIZATION HAS BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE COUNCIL IN Apostolicam Actuositatem (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, November 18, 1965) vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651118_apostolicam-actuositatem_en.html, BY POPE PAUL VI IN Evangelii Nuntiandi (On Evangelization in the Modern World, December 8, 1975) vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-vi_exh_19751208_evangelii-nuntiandi_en.html, AND BY JOHN PAUL II IN Christifideles Laici (The Lay Members of Christs Faithful People, December 30, 1988) vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_30121988_christifideles-laici_en.html. THE BASIS OF THIS UNIVERSAL CALL TO MISSION IS ALREADY PRESENT IN THE GOSPEL. AFTER COMMISSIONING THE FIRST APOSTLES, WE READ IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, JESUS appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place sure he himself intended to go (LK 10:1). THOSE SEVENTY-TWO DISCIPLES WERE PROBABLY ALL HE HAD GATHERED BY THAT POINT, OR AT LEAST ALL THOSE WHO WERE WILLING TO MAKE A SERIOUS COMMITMENT TO HIM. JESUS, THEREFORE, SENDS ALL HIS DISCIPLES. LAYPERSONS ARE NOT MERELY collaborators CALLED UPON TO GIVE OF THEIR TIME, PROFESSIONAL ABILITIES, AND RESOURCES; THEY ARE BEARERS OF THEIR OWN CHARISMS BY WHICH, Lumen Gentium vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html SAYS, [The Holy Spirit] makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks and offices that contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church. BENEDICT XVI STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FAMILY IN VIEW OF EVANGELIZATION, SPEAKING OF A LEADING ROLEOF CHRISTIAN FAMILIES IN THIS MATTER. And just as the eclipse of God and the crisis of the family are linked, HE SAID, so the new evangelization is inseparable from the Christian family. SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT, WHILE COMMENTING ON THE AFOREMENTIONED PASSAGE OF THE SEVENTY-TWO DISCIPLES, WROTE THAT JESUS SENT THEM OUT TWO BY TWO because when there are less than two people, there can be no love, AND LOVE IS THAT BY WHICH JESUS FOLLOWERS ARE RECOGNIZED AS HIS DISCIPLES. THIS APPLIES TO EVERYONE, BUT ESPECIALLY TO TWO PARENTS. IF THEY CAN NO LONGER DO ANYTHING TO HELP THEIR CHILDREN IN THE FAITH, THEY WOULD DO MUCH IF THEIR CHILDREN, IN OBSERVING THEM, COULD SAY TO ONE ANOTHER: Look how much Mom and Dad love each other. SCRIPTURE SAYS, Love is from God (1 JN 4:7), AND THIS EXPLAINS WHY WHEREVER THERE IS A LITTLE TRUE LOVE, GOD IS ALWAYS PROCLAIMED THERE. THE FIRST EVANGELIZATION BEGINS WITHIN THE WALLS OF THE HOME. TO ONE YOUNG MAN WHO ASKED WHAT HE MUST DO TO BE SAVED, JESUS RESPONDED, GO, SELL WHAT YOU OWN, AND GIVE THE MONEY TO THE POOR...; THEN COME, FOLLOW ME (MK 10:21). BUT TO ANOTHER YOUNG MAN WHO WANTED TO LEAVE EVERYTHING IN ORDER TO FOLLOW HIM, JESUS DID NOT PERMIT HIM, BUT TOLD HIM INSTEAD, GO HOME TO YOUR FRIENDS, AND TELL THEM HOW MUCH THE LORD HAS DONE FOR YOU, AND WHAT MERCY HE HAS SHOWN YOU (MK 5:19). THERE IS A FAMOUS AFRICAN AMERICAN SPIRITUAL ENTITLED, THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD. SOME OF ITS WORDS CAN ENCOURAGE THE LAITY (AND NOT ONLY THEM) IN THE TASK OF EVANGELIZING - PERSON TO PERSON, DOOR TO DOOR. THE HYMN SAYS: IF YOU CANNOT SING LIKE ANGELS, IF YOU CANNOT PREACH LIKE PAUL, GO HOME AND TELL YOUR NEIGHBOR, HE DIED TO SAVE US ALL. IT MAY COMFORT OUR LAY BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO REMEMBER THAT, BESIDES MARY AND JOSEPH, ONLY THEIR REPRESENTATIVES - THE SHEPHERDS AND THE MAGI - WERE AROUND THE CRIB OF JESUS. CHRISTMAS BRINGS US BACK TO THE TIP OF THE SHIPS WAKE BECAUSE IT ALL STARTED WITH A CHILD LYING IN THE MANGER. THE BIRTH OF CHRIST MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE CHRISTIAN PEOPLE; THE BIRTHDAY OF ITS HEAD IS THE BIRTHDAY OF ITS BODY. IN THE CHRISTMAS LITURGY WE HEAR PROCLAIMED, TODAY CHRIST IS BORN: TODAY THE SAVIOR APPEARED. ON HEARING THESE WORDS, LET US THINK BACK TO WHAT WAS SAID BEFORE REGARDING ANAMNESIS, WHICH MAKES THE EVENT MORE PRESENT THAN WHEN IT FIRST HAPPENED. YES, CHRIST IS BORN TODAY, BECAUSE HE TRULY IS BORN FOR ME THE MOMENT IN WHICH I RECOGNIZE AND BELIEVE IN THE MYSTERY. WHAT GOOD WOULD IT BE TO ME THAT CHRIST WAS ONCE BORN IN BETHLEHEM TO MARY, IF HE WERE NOT BORN AGAIN THROUGH FAITH IN MY HEART? THESE WORDS, SPOKEN BY ORIGEN, WERE REPEATED BY ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. BERNARD. THEY ALSO APPLY TO US. NAVIGATING THE NEW EVANGELIZATION RANIERO CANTALAMESSA, OFM Cap. youtube/playlist?list=PLl6BeUzXcF-k7BCRIO-QiYck4vO1OPw9K
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 06:59:23 +0000