New Evangelization is a Challenge to Catholics
By Michelle Larose-Kuzenko, the Prairie Messenger
ST. BONIFACE (Manitoba, Canada) — The heart of the call for a new evangelization is a challenge to Catholics to rediscover their mission as disciples and to identify themselves fundamentally with Christ.
 Such is the message that Sister Theresa Rickard, OP, brought to a large group at the Assembly of Priests of the Archdiocese of St. Boniface October 25 - 26. For this workshop, religious, deacons and members of pastoral services teams were also invited to attend, in the hall of Sts.-Martyrs-Canadiens Parish.
Rickard is a Dominican Sister of Blauvelt, NY. She is president and executive director of RENEW International, a group that “fosters spiritual renewal in the Catholic tradition by empowering individuals and communities to encounter God in everyday life, deepen and share faith, and connect faith with action.”
A well-known retreat leader and preacher, Rickard holds a doctorate of ministry in preaching. She is also a regular contributor to Living With Christ, with a series of reflections on praying the new Roman Missal.
She was here at the request of Archbishop Albert LeGatt, who saw an opportunity to focus on new evangelization as a first step in fulfilling the first pastoral priority identified for the archdiocese in 2010: Faith Education/Spiritual Formation, especially for adults.
Rickard started by contextualizing the call to the new evangelization with a scriptural foundation. She pointed out that half the church has not experienced Vatican II, now already 50 years old.
Before then, teaching and training was oriented to the clergy. Afterward, Pope Paul VI spoke of propagation of faith, of the Gospel values of justice. John Paul II first coined the term “new evangelization” while in Latin America and described it as a conversion to Jesus Christ in the context of the church. Pope Benedict XVI now speaks of re-evangelization in Europe, meant to touch the hearts and the minds of adults.
Traditionally, evangelization has meant reaching out to non-Christians and non-believers. New evangelization means to carry forth the Good News into every sector of the human race, to reach all the baptized: the active, the nominal, the alienated who have drifted away, as well as those who never heard the message of Jesus Christ, to bring all in communion.
Evangelization is neither a method nor a program; it is a way of living the Gospel. There is no better way to transmit the faith than to live it. There is a greater chance that children will attend church as adults if their parents did.
This work is not without its challenges. Many of those are also present in our society in general: indifference, which leads to not caring; deep pain which many carry with them at all times; consumerism and secularism, which mean the focus of our lives tends toward the material; sexual abuse that has marked so many.
How can those challenges and others be countered? Parishes as a whole need to become evangelizing, to create a culture of hospitality.
LeGatt challenged the assembled: “If Christ stepped in our church — which he does every Sunday — would he want to come back?” Sunday mass can be evangelizing, in the way people are greeted and welcomed, in the fostering of a prayerful environment, in the meaningful proclamation of the Word and in the excellence of liturgical music which encourages all to sing.
In turn, this will extend to the sacraments, which can be doorways of welcome, as many, including young adults, attend marriages and baptisms, wakes and funerals, first communions and confirmations.
How can a parish create a new and compelling vision of evangelization? By listening and assessing who is standing in the fold seeking growth; by realizing that the alienated, forgotten and invisible are neighbours, parents, friends from clubs or associations; by identifying those committed believers, those coming for sacraments, as ones that can be engaged as partners in evangelization.
Small Christian communities within a parish will provide a place for faith to be kindled. Bible study and prayer groups held in parishioners’ homes, adult catechesis, local social justice initiatives all present opportunities for spiritual growth.
LeGatt thanked Rickard for challenging the participants in a positive manner. He concluded
that “we have no choice now but to move forward with new evangelization.”
Article courtesy of the Prairie Messenger. Photo by Fr. Robert Campeau.
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