New Evangelization: It begins with us.

We must be careful when we speak of the new evangelization that we do not instantly speak of others or point fingers somewhere other than ourselves.  We must remember, in all honestly and humility, that when Jesus, the Good Shepard, left the 99 in search of the 1 he was, and still is, looking for us.

To renew, restore or make new, we must always begin at the beginning; ourselves, our families, our parish, our Church.  We must begin with a solid foundation on which others can build.

Why is our Christian Faith sidelined as irrelevant?  Why is the Church seen as everything from quaint (a cultural artifact) to out of touch (irrelevant)?  Social and cultural opinions and attitudes do not drop out of the sky, they develop over time, based, right or wrong, on a collective experience.  

True change also does not spring up overnight.  It is work that builds upon itself until

Change begins by looking at ourselves, as the faithful, if we want to answer this. 

 Of course, this worry and concern about the Church is nothing new; Augustine & Aquinas have thought and written about it, but we will begin with De Lubac a theologian closer to us who spoke about the growing disinterest in faith in the 20^th century.

“If such a misunderstanding has arisen and entrenched itself, if such an accusation is current, is it not our own fault?” De Lubac

Now in the 21^st century we still ask the questions as if we really have no idea how we ended up here. Have we as people of Faith, the People of God made a real effort to learn more about our faith we profess and have we, in our leadership roles, given the requisite help and encouragement in order to do so.  Do we desire to understand our baptism, our sacraments, most especially the Eucharist so as to deeply live out our faith every day and everywhere or are we simply comfortable in our traditions of 45 minutes on Sunday and where the great Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter remain our national holidays but the saving truths they proclaim are dimly if at all perceived.

 Renewal requires of each Christian a greater clarity in both witnessing and teaching. As Catholics we speak of this ongoing conversion as nothing less than a “new evangelization”, a new proclamation of the Gospel in our time. It is “new” not because there is a new faith or a new Gospel but because we face a new and changed situation. This is what Pope Benedict meant when he called for the “Year of Faith” as an invitation in the Pope Emeritus’s words to “rediscover the joy of believing and enthusiasm in communicating the faith” and “to profess the faith in fullness and with a renewed conviction”.

Mature faith must be lived every so as to witness the Good News Jesus preached, but we cannot do so with real joy and conviction unless we understand and internalize what we witness too.  We must be able to speak honestly and from the heart to our children, our families, to those who search for the truth and to those who question the very need to search. 

It means that evangelization begins with our own renewal.

“The Church is an evangelizer, but she begins by being evangelized herself.” Pope Paul VI

 It begins by us who believe in Jesus Christ and the Good News to grow, to dig deeper, and truly understand what we believe and why we believe and what has this meant in our lives.  This means our lives must embrace every opportunity to encounter Our Lord in prayer, study and works of charity.

Christian Faith is not a set of abstract ideas, but a person.  It is not a thesis, agenda or program.  It is the encounter and ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ which offers, not only to the young man of Nain being carried out to his burial, but to every person the invitation: “I tell you arise” (Luke 7: 11-17).

Everything comes from this invitation and its acceptance and the continual acceptance each day as disciples of Christ in the world. 

We as Church have no small part in the rise of the Cultural secularism, since we have become too comfortable with the mass and we causally listen to the Word of God and haphazardly receive the Eucharist.  We neglect our continuing education in the faith. We ignore our own defects in our moral and social lives.  We concede that the defense of human life, the identity of marriage and the integrity of the family is all but lost?  We are too comfortable remaining silent so as not to weaken the Church’s increasingly, precarious standing in society. We do not want to rock the boat regardless that it is sinking.

By thoughtless and un-intentional lives we can, even with good intentions, conceal rather, than reveal the true reality of God in each of our lives. 

Our mission is bring to the world (even our little corner of it) the hope and the salvation of God: to be a sign of the love of God who calls all to be friends of His; to be the yeast that ferments the dough, the salt that gives flavor and preserves from decay, the light that brightens.

The truth might be the world is often more ready to listen and take notice than we as Christians are ready to speak or give witness.