Freshness, Vigor and Strength To Proclaim the Gospel

She is the community of believers, the community of hope lived and communicated, the community of brotherly love, and she needs to listen unceasingly to what she must believe, to her reasons for hoping, to the new commandment of love. She is the People of God immersed in the world, and often tempted by idols, and she always needs to hear the proclamation of the ‘mighty works of God’ which converted her to the Lord; she always needs to be called together a fresh by Him and reunited. In brief, this means she has a constant need of being evangelized, if she wishes to retain freshness, vigor and strength in order to proclaim the Gospel.

Pope Paul VI’s words are remembered in the Lineamenta for the upcoming Synod on the New Evangelization. They encompass the goal, the very essence of the New Evangelization: “to make the Church a community of witnesses to the Gospel.”

This has always been the goal for our missionary Church, but we now live in a time that offers new conditions and brings us new challenges. This call for new approaches doesn’t indicate that the Church has failed at drawing her members in. Rather, the nature of modern changes presents a need to “forge new paths.”

Now if the Church places the person of Jesus Christ at the center of her discernment, the Holy Spirit will lead us in these new approaches to evangelization. Church leaders have already been enlightened as to which sectors of society require focused attention. These are: the cultural sector, the social sector, social communications, the economy, scientific and technological research, and civic and political life.

Some modern changes have helped our Church community. For example, improvements in social communications allowed Pope Benedict XVI to inspire the youth with short Lenten reflections over Twitter. There are also great dangers in each of these sectors, though, which lead us to question our identities and the very foundation of our Faith.

 We must do as Pope Benedict XVI says and “engage in a critical discernment of [each] situation and reread the present moment in light of the Christian gift of hope.” We do this by constantly renewing our spiritual relationships with Christ, by growing in our knowledge of the Faith, and by boldly witnessing to the Gospel in an ecumenical, yet foundational way.

The Lineamenta gives more specific instructions on how we can participate in the New Evangelization individually, and it also stresses the importance of the local churches, families, catechists, and catechumens.  Many questions are left open for the Bishops, but it is certain that the fruits of this unified missionary effort will give the Church the “freshness, vigor and strength in order to proclaim the Gospel” Pope Paul VI spoke of. The Church will receive what She needs, and She will transcend the challenges of our time.