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INTENTION : |
That the New Evangelization may progress in the oldest Christian countires.
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Have you ever heard some good news that made you so happy and excited that you couldn't wait to share it with others? It was such good news that you wanted others to know it so that they could share your happiness. You went looking for people with whom you could share the news or you went to your telephone, computer, or i-phone so that you could communicate that good news to everyone you knew as soon as possible.
That's the spirit behind this month's General Intention. It's the spirit behind the "new evangelization." "Evangelization," or the proclamation of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, has been part of the Church's mission from the beginning. It was the focus of the 1974 Synod of Bishops and Pope Paul VI's Apostolic Exhortation that followed it. Since then, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have called for a "new evangelization." What's "new" about it?
Evangelization is concerned with bringing the Gospel to parts of the world where it has never been heard. The new evangelization has to do with bringing the Gospel to countries where Christianity was planted centuries ago, where it took root and flourished but is now dying for a variety of reasons. The newness of this evangelization also refers to the need for new methods of presenting the Gospel in bold and convincing ways, especially employing the new communication technologies.
This is such a deep concern of Pope Benedict that in October, 2010 he created the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. He also made it the focus for the Thirteenth General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which is meeting in the Vatican this month.
On 30 May 2011, Pope Benedict met with the first plenary session of the new Pontifical Council and he told them: "To proclaim Jesus Christ the only Savior of the world seems more complex today than in the past; but our task continues to be the same as at the dawn of our history. The mission has not changed, just as the enthusiasm and courage that moved the Apostles and the first disciples must not change." He went on to say that "the new evangelization must find the ways to make the proclamation of salvation more effective."
Ultimately the work of the new evangelization, while it involves using new methods to tell people the Good News of Jesus Christ, depends upon personal witness. It depends upon Christians whose lifestyle attracts others to Christ. As Pope Benedict said to the Pontifical Council, "the lifestyle of believers needs real credibility, as much more convincing as the more dramatic is the condition of the persons to whom it is addressed." Such witness includes the commitment to working for social justice. On 16 May 2011 Pope Benedict told a meeting sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: "my wish for you is that the Risen Lord may warm your hearts and help you to spread the fruit of redemption through a new evangelization of the social sphere and the witness of a righteous life according to the Gospel."
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