And the Lord Added to Their Number Day By Day

"And they devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching
and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
…And day by day, attending the temple together and
breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food
with glad and generous hearts and praising God
and having favor with all the people. And the Lord
added to their number day by day those
who were being saved" (Acts 2:42, 46-47).

These verses from the Acts of the Apostles describe the earliest Christian communities, groups brought together by the newness of the Gospel and the warmth of the Holy Spirit. As we reflect upon them, we might realize that this is exactly what we are called to do as new evangelizers—to praise God with “glad and generous hearts” so that we have “favor with all the people” and invite them into our community with joy.

How can we revive this spirit of evangelization? How can we awaken our Christian brothers and sisters to the real and glorious Revelation of Jesus Christ?

Well, we are about to find out! This last reflection will summarize the remaining three chapters of the Instrumentum Laboris for the upcoming Synod on the New Evangelization, which we began to discuss earlier this week.

For the most part, responses to the Lineamenta suggest that changes must be made in response to modern circumstances. In order to re-propose the divine and the sacred, the Church must break through the secularized culture. The globalized world, economic divisions, polarized civic life, dependence on scientific discoveries and research, changes in new media and communications, and a misguided sense of spirituality present challenges as well.

We Aren’t the Only Ones Preparing for the Synod

Here on Open Wide the Doors, we have been preparing for the upcoming Synod on the New Evangelization by working through the Lineamenta and Instrumentum Laboris for the council.

But we aren’t the only ones curious and excited about the Synod.

Fr. James Wehner, rector of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, wrote about why the Synod and the New Evangelization are important for U.S. Catholics.  Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, says he will focus on promoting the role of the family and the laity in the New Evangelization while at the Synod. U.S. Catholic shared a story about the record number of women named for the Synod. And Pope Benedict XVI reminded bishops before the Synod that they are to be “bold heralds of the New Evangelization.”

And do not forget St. John of Avila and St. Hildegard of Bingen, who will be proclaimed as Doctors of the Universal Church during the opening Mass for the council.

Our hearts are ready, oh God, our hearts are ready! Your Church is ready for this Synod on the New Evangelization and for the inspiration of the Your Holy Spirit.

Enlarge the Place of Your Tent, Hold Not Back

Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; hold not back, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities (Isaiah 54:2, 3).

This is the Church’s destiny, Her calling: To bear witness to the Revelation of God and to unite God’s children, scattered throughout the world.

This has been the Church’s mission since the beginning. But the cold heart of modernity has given birth to many challenges, crippling this mission in a sense, barring old methods of evangelization, and quelling hope in what’s left of Christian communities.

In his work, “On First Principles,” Origen addressed the nature of such obstacles. He wrote:

…when we are shut out and hurled back, it calls us back to the beginning of another way, so that by gaining a higher and loftier road through entering a narrow footpath it may open for us the immense breadth of divine knowledge.

Now the early church theologian was discussing Scripture rather than culture. But there is a connection here, which helps us to understand the upcoming Synod on the New Evangelization.

The Lineamenta for the Synod was introduced here, so that we could see the task at hand and experience an invitation to participate in this Church-wide discernment.  With one week left until the Synod begins, we will look through the Instrumentum Laboris, which serves as a summary of responses to the Lineamenta and the working document for the council.

Those Who Know Christ Must Proclaim Him

The last two posts addressing the Lineamenta for the upcoming Synod on the New Evangelization introduced us to the purpose behind the Synod, what the New Evangelization is exactly, and what the Church is up against in this secular culture. The Lineamenta concludes on a very positive note, with some direction on where to begin discerning and concrete questions for Bishops and local Churches about what works and what doesn’t.

Changes in society today have led to “an extensive process of reflection and rethinking” on how to consistently approach the Sacraments of Christian Initiation (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation) as formational experiences and community celebrations. There is an “educational emergency” which needs to be addressed as well, because transmitting “to new generations the basic values for living and right conduct is becoming more arduous”—especially the idea that every human life holds a unique dignity.

There is also a need to look at the local church and the family. How do these sacred units contribute to the formation of future generations and their older members? The spiritual nature of the New Evangelization shouldn’t be forgotten either—for people “are able to evangelize only when they have been evangelized and allow themselves to be evangelized, that is, renewed spiritually through a personal encounter and lived communion with Jesus Christ.”

And finally, one of the most important questions is: how do we make the “initial proclamation” to others? The Church and her communities are asked to discern how to present the Christian faith in the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” today. How can we live as witnesses in a culture that refuses to listen for the Truth?

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.

The Church Discerns Together

The New Evangelization is exactly what it says it is—a new form of evangelization. 

It answers the call that Jesus gave his disciples before He ascended into heaven: “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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” (Mt 28:19-20).

But it doesn’t necessarily involve the ongoing missio ad gentes of the Church, or preaching the Good News to people who are not familiar with the Gospel. The New Evangelization is instead addressed to those people who know the Church, but have fallen away.

In recent decades more people like this have drifted from the Faith. So this mission of the New Evangelization is urgent for the salvation of these lost souls, and really, for the life of the Church on Earth. Therefore, it is our duty to bring this New Evangelization to fruition.

Blessed John Paul II made the New Evangelization a major focus of his pontificate. And Pope Benedict XVI has taken things a step further, by calling the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops from October 7-28 to discuss: The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.