2012: A Year For The New Evangelization

2012 was quite a year for the Church. There were some low points, involving scandal, violence, and religious liberty violations. On the other hand, there were many high points, involving growth, better communication, and a renewed vigor for the Faith. While there was sorrow, our good Father gave us much to be grateful for.

How can we ever forget this year for the New Evangelization? Blessed John Paul II’s call to a re-evangelization of cultures was given a more concrete vision in 2012, as the Church came together for the Synod on the New Evangelization. Leaders from throughout the world gathered in October, in order to discuss how to inspire greater Faith in their countries. At the close of the Synod, the Church looked forward with hope in the Holy Spirit, and Pope Benedict XVI shared his conviction that there would be a “new springtime for Christianity.”

In anticipation of this springtime, the Holy Father launched the Year of Faith, “a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Savior of the world.” Pope Benedict XVI announced the Year of Faith in response to a modern crisis of faith—the very crisis that sparked the Synod for the New Evangelization. This celebration began in October, and it will end on November 24, 2013, the Solemnity of Christ the King. Leaders have already begun to “re-catechize” the faithful, and we can look forward to more in the year to come.

In 2012, the Church promoted a renewed vigor for evangelization and initiated a Year of Faith to ground us in the Truth to be transmitted. There were strong efforts to bring the New Evangelization to the Americas and to spark new unity between American nations, where over half of the world’s Catholics live. This is why the “Ecclesia in America” Conference was held in December. There were over 200 American leaders at the summit, from cities like Toronto, Boston, Tegucigalpa, and Guadalajara. The summit was held in response to Blessed John Paul II’s 1999 apostolic exhortation, delivered in Mexico City, and it sparked a new solidarity between American nations.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for Us!

O Mother! You know the paths followed by the first evangelizers of the New World, from Guanahani Island and Hispaniola to the Amazon forests and the Andean peaks, reaching to Tierra del Fuego in the south and to the Great Lakes and mountains of the north. Accompany the Church which is working in the nations of America, so that she may always preach the Gospel and renew her missionary spirit. Encourage all who devote their lives to the cause of Jesus and the spread of his kingdom. O gentle Lady of Tepeyac, Mother of indigenous peoples and Afro-Americans, for immigrants and refugees, for the young deprived of opportunity, for the old, for those who suffer any kind of poverty or marginalization.

…Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of Peace! Save the nations and peoples of this continent. Teach everyone, political leaders and citizens, to live in true freedom and to act according to the requirements of justice and respect for human rights, so that peace may thus be established once and for all.

To you, O Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, belong all the love, honor, glory and endless praise of your American sons and daughters!

                -Homily of Blessed John Paul II, Apostolic Journey to America, 1999

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the model for the New Evangelization! As the Church celebrates her feast today, ask for her intercession during this Year of Faith, especially as American church leaders conclude their Ecclesia in America conference in Rome.