Last Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians to be steadfast in their faith and to actively participate in the New Evangelization. During morning Mass in Tuscany, he said:
Be ferment in society, be present as Christians, be active and coherent…The whole Church is sent out into the world to preach the Gospel and salvation.
Preaching the Gospel is our responsibility. The New Evangelization calls upon the whole Church to bring Christ to the world. It is a re-evangelization of sorts, in which Christians are first invited to re-discover their identity in Christ and then share this unique experience with the people around them. This is described in the lineamenta prepared for the October Synod for the New Evangelization:
…the Christian must never forego a sense of boldness in proclaiming the Gospel and seeking every positive way to provide avenues for dialogue, where people's deepest expectations and their thirst for God can be discussed.
This is a serious calling, and it can be intimidating. Thoughts of inadequacy creep into many hearts as people wonder who it is they can reach out to and how effective they can be with little knowledge of the faith.
