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.

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.