The New Evangelization is a call to each of us to deepen our own faith, believe in the Gospel message, live it out in our lives, and then go forth to spread the Gospel message. The focus of the New Evangelization is for all Catholics to be evangelized and then go forth to share the Good News.
In other words, before we go out into the world, we need to know our faith and love our faith.
Whether or not we realize it, as Catholics, each of us has within us the power to evangelize. At Baptism and Confirmation, we were endowed with special gifts of the Holy Spirit, which enabled us to share the gospel message. Thus, we are all called to be missionaries.
Recently, Pope Francis spoke of how the sacrament of Baptism prepares us to be evangelizers. In his General Audience on January 15, 2014, he shared the following, courtesy of VIS:
“Baptism brings us into the People of God, makes us members of a People on a journey, a pilgrim People in history,” Pope Francis asserted, quoting words from the Second Vatican Council during his Wednesday catechesis at the general audience, which was dedicated to the first of the sacraments. He explained how life is passed on from generation to generation and that “through rebirth at the baptismal font, grace is also passed on from generation to generation. With this grace the Christian People walk through time, like a river that irrigates the earth and spreads God’s blessing throughout the world.”
The disciples “went forth to baptize. From that time to today there is a chain in the transmission of faith through Baptism. Each of us is a link in that chain, a step forward always, like the river that irrigates. Thus is God’s grace and thus also our faith, which we should pass on to our children, pass on to the children so that these, as adults, can pass it on to their children. This is Baptism … it brings us into this People of God … who walk and who pass down the faith.”
Through Baptism, each of us becomes “missionary disciples, called to bring the Gospel to the world. Each of the baptized, whatever their role in the Church or the educational level of their faith, is an active agent of evangelization. … The new evangelization should involve … a new central role for each of the baptized. The People of God is a People of disciples―because we receive the faith―and a missionary People―because we pass on the faith. This is what makes Baptism in us: it gives us Grace and transmits the faith. All of us in the Church are disciples, always and for our entire lives; and we are all missionaries, each in the place that the Lord has assigned us.”
“All of us,” the Bishop of Rome improvised, “even the smallest is a missionary and the one who seems greater is a disciple. Some of you will say: ‘Bishops aren’t disciples; the bishops know everything. The Pope knows everything and isn’t a disciple.’ No, even the bishops and the Pope are to be disciples because, if they aren’t, it’s not good; they can’t be missionaries; they can’t pass on the faith. All of us are disciples and missionaries.”
“No one is saved by themselves,” the Pope said to the thousands of persons gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “We are a community of believers and in this community we feel the beauty of sharing an experience of love that precedes us all, but that at the same time asks us to be ‘channels’ of grace for one another, in spite of our limits and our sins. The communal dimension is not only a ‘frame’ or an ‘outline’ but an integral part of the Christian life, witness, and evangelization.”
Copyright © 2014, Jean Heimann
Jean Heimann
Jean M. Heimann has been involved with adult faith formation for 23 years. She has an M.A. in Theology and is a new evangelizer, freelance writer, and oblate with the Community of St. John. Jean blogs at Catholic Fire.
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