There has been a lot of buzz of late in our parishes about the New Evangelization and Mission Fields. Evangelization has been around since Jesus founded the Church, yet over the last couple of years, we have heard our bishop speak and write about the steps the Holy Spirit is giving us in the areas of healing, hope, and joy in Christ. He has been encouraging us to share Jesus with others and make disciples. This is what evangelization is all about. It is the proclamation and witness that Jesus is risen from the dead, is alive and well, living in our presence, and has all the answers to man’s questions. It’s about bringing others to Him and making other intentional disciples. Evangelization isn’t new. So, what makes this evangelization “new”?

At its core, the New Evangelization poses this question: Do I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? This question is key because everything centers around how one answers it. This isn’t a Protestant infiltration into the Catholic Church. In fact, Pope St. John Paul II once wrote that many baptized Catholics have never had a personal relationship or a personal commitment to the Lordship of Jesus.

This is not a new question or novel concept. What makes it new is to who the evangelization effort of proclamation and witness is directed towards. It is directed toward active Catholic’s, marginal Catholics, and all other people living in our families, communities and neighborhoods. It’s about becoming an intentional disciple, on fire with the love of Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit. This relationship is so great that we can’t keep it for ourselves but need to share it with others. How can a personal relationship with Jesus make a difference?

We must begin our efforts by deepening our own relationship with God. A central tenet of Pope Benedict XVI’s teaching on the New Evangelization focused on the centrality of prayer in this mission. Benedict XVI understands prayer as holding a two-fold significance in evangelization: among those sharing the faith there must first be a conversion brought about by their being re-evangelized and growing in habits of prayer and contemplation amidst life’s busyness. Secondly, among those with whom we evangelize and share the faith, prayer constitutes a deeply personal and essential means by which one encounters God.

Benedict XVI writes: “Praying actualizes and deepens our communion with God. Our prayer can and should arise above all from our heart, from our needs, our hopes, our joys, our sufferings, from our shame over sin, from our gratitude for the good. It can and should be a wholly personal prayer.”

The role of prayer in the New Evangelization has been central to our last three popes. It must become central for us as well. Prayer is not telling about Jesus to others but spending time with Jesus. Prayer is not merely a method but is to be a relationship with the person of Jesus. Borrowing from our Protestant brothers and sisters: Do you know Jesus? The New Evangelization is directed to equip you to make a difference and be a source of healing, hope, and joy in your community.

For Reflection:

Do I have a personal relationship with Jesus? Have I undergone a true conversion where Jesus is the joy and energy of my life? Do I long to share Him with others or is religion something private and evangelization for others? Whether mission fields and evangelization is old or new, how have I responded to the healing, hope, and joy that is found in a personal relationship with Jesus?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, I want to see Jesus and to know and love Him with my whole being. Set me on fire with Your love, that so transformed I may bring Jesus’s healing, hope, and joy to all I meet.

(blogged November 15, 2024)
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