Pope Benedict XVI shows no signs of slowing down the church’s efforts to reach the whole world for Christ through a new evangelization! He is on a mission, he states in his apostolic letter Porta Fidei: “Ever since the start of my ministry as the successor of Peter, I have spoken of the need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ… The church as a whole and all her pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards the One who gives life, and life in abundance.” (Porta Fidei, No. 2)
To lead us on this lifelong journey of faith in the Triune God, he has promulgated a 13-month “Year of Faith” to begin on Oct. 11, 2012 and close on Nov. 24, 2013 (Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King) — a “good opportunity to usher the whole church into a time of particular reflection and discovery of the faith” — to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm of communicating the faith to all.
The new evangelization is not entirely new (cf. “Implementing the New Evangelization… now and then,” Dec. 16, 2011 issue), but Pope Benedict XVI is saying, ‘Let’s get to it!’ To do that, we must accept that we are facing “a profound crisis of faith that has affected many people.” (Porta Fidei, No. 2) The Christian faith can no longer be assumed to be alive and well, respected and lived as it ought. This growing loss of faith is giving way to an insidious promotion of disbelief, accompanied increasingly by disrespect and outright mockery of all religions, especially Christianity, and in particular for the Catholic Church. This is affecting everyone, including a growing numbers of Catholic children, youth and adults. We need a new evangelization capable of stemming the tide and reversing the trend!
This crisis and two important events in the life of the church led the pope to declare the Year of Faith: 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, making 2012 a great year to re-set in motion the renewal, catechesis, evangelization and world transformation intended by these church happenings. We will be aided by the council documents, the Catechism, the year-old Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization and its new Secretariat, the deliberations and documents of the October Synod of Bishops on “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith,” and by the proposals for study and outreach, and prayer and celebration at the levels of the universal church, the episcopal conferences, the diocesan church, and of the parish/community/association/movement recently published in the Note with pastoral recommendations for the Year of Faith. (www.vatican.va)
But we must first look within to see where we need that authentic renewal and deep conversion without which we cannot truly profess nor effectively proclaim the faith. The pope hopes the Year of Faith will “arouse in every believer the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, with confidence and hope,” each believer taking responsibility to “reflect on the act of faith” and rediscover “the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed” — for, he adds, “knowledge of the content of the faith is essential for giving one’s own assent, that is to say, for adhering fully with intellect and will to what the Church proposes. Knowledge of the faith opens a door into the fullness of the saving mystery revealed by God.” (No. 9, 10)
Authentically renewed believers and joyful evangelizers who know, love, adhere to, and share the deposit of faith is what the Year of Faith is meant to produce. The new evangelization cannot be fully implemented without it, and no authentic renewal can take place without a true hermeneutics or interpretation of the content of the faith of which the church is the depository. We need to re-read and correctly interpret and implement the sixteen documents of the Second Vatican Council, which, the pope says quoting Blessed John Paul II, “have lost nothing of their value or brilliance.” The council must be seen as “the great grace bestowed on the church in the twentieth century… a sure compass,” and “if we interpret and implement it guided by a right hermeneutic, it can be and become increasingly powerful for the ever necessary renewal of the Church.” (No. 5) We must also “find in the Catechism of the Catholic Church a precious and indispensable tool” for arriving “at a systematic knowledge of the content of the faith,” as it is “one of the most important fruits of the Second Vatican Council … a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion and a sure norm for teaching the faith.” (No. 11)
Blessed John Paul II called us to “open wide the doors to Christ!” Pope Benedict XVI, in continuity with him, is calling us to open the door of faith for ourselves and for the people God puts in our path! It is by the church’s spirit-led preaching and teaching that the door of faith is opened to the Gentiles (Acts 14:27), while it is the Lord’s grace that opens hearts “to give heed to what was said by Paul.” (Acts 16:14)
The door of faith will open up for others to the degree that we renew our commitment to professing our faith publicly.
Faith was never meant to be a solely private affair. Personal, yes, but not private — as in hidden and never to be shared, shown, or talked about in the public square. Quite the contrary! Our faith is based on revelation, and to reveal means to uncover, to make known, to bring to light, to show, outwardly, clearly, publicly! The pope reminds us of this in Porta Fidei, declaring that our personal, inner transformation of thoughts, affections, mentality and conduct has an outward dimension: “faith implies public testimony and commitment.” (No. 10) Faith and love for Christ and his church will awaken within us a desire to share Christ with others: “Help many people in search of God to find the right path towards the door of faith.” (No. 7)
Are you ready? Ready or not … here it comes! The Year of Faith will open on 10/11/12 — and that date will be here in no time!
Allow the Lord to have his way with you. Prepare well. Read Porta Fidei and the Note with pastoral recommendations for the Year of Faith. Study the Second Vatican Council documents. Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Ask your pastor and parish pastoral council about Year of Faith programming and new evangelization outreach. Visit our archdiocesan websites, contact our offices and ask about our broadcasts, classes and seminars, retreats and resources that can help you and your family, parish and community to get on board with all the Lord is doing in our midst. You will not regret it. And let us together heed the words of the servant of God, Pope Paul VI, as powerful today as they were in 1975:
“Let us therefore preserve our fervor of spirit. Let us preserve the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow. May it mean for us — as it did for John the Baptist, for Peter and Paul, for the other apostles and for a multitude of splendid evangelizers all through the church’s history — an interior enthusiasm that nobody and nothing can quench. May it be the great joy of our consecrated lives. And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor, who have first received the joy of Christ, and who are willing to risk their lives so that the kingdom may be proclaimed and the church established in the midst of the world.” (On Evangelization in the Modern World — Evangelii nuntiandi, 80)
For articles and talks, workshops and classes, TV and radio shows and videos on the new evangelization and the Year of Faith, tune into my weekly TV show, Prepare The Way; listen to my frequent national radio interviews on Morning Air (www.relevantradio.com); regularly visit my blog (http://iEvangelize.wordpress.com) and website (www.archsa.org/Evangelization); and follow me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/evangelization.archsa) Twitter (www.Twitter.com/iEvangelize), YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/ievangelize1) and Vimeo (www.vimeo.com).
Martha Fernández-Sardina is the director of the Office for Evangelization of the archdiocese and a national bilingual speaker and trainer, ministry consultant and translator. She hosts a weekly TV show, is a frequent guest on radio shows, authors a newspaper column, and blogs periodically (www.archsa.org/Evangelization; http://iEvangelize.wordpress.com).