Komunikat Nru 11 mis-Sinodu tal-Isqfijiet dwar l-Evanġelizzazzjoni Ġdida
biex innisslu l-Fidi Nisranija
Mibgħut lilna
mill-Eċċellenza Tiegħu
Monsinjur Mario Grech, Isqof ta' Għawdex.
26 Ottubru 2012
H. Exc. Mons. Vincent
RI PYUNG-HO, Bishop of Jeonju (KOREA)
Since the beginning of
my episcopacy in 1990, I have been trying to memorize the biblical
passages of daily mass, investing two and half hours every morning
and sharing in one way or other with especially lay people. When we
do this, we realize how much is true the word of St. Ambrose who
said: “When we take up the sacred Scriptures in faith and read them
with the Church, we walk once more with God in the Garden”
One bishop from France
said in the last synod: “I have a degree in Holy Scripture, but it
was the laity, the poor who really opened me up to the force of the
Word. They evangelized me. The poor are profoundly receptive to the
Word of God (Mt. 11:25-26), and the Church should always read it
with them close at hand.” Faith, defined as a personal encounter
with the Lord, is the foundation on which everything we do and even
the Church herself is built. If it is solid like a rock, even if
flood and strong wind come, it does not fall.
But if the foundation
is not solid like sand, it cannot resist the least obstacle.
Concerning the encounter and relationship with Christ, the Lord
declares: “Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you
hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share a meal
at that person's side” (Rev.3:20). Therefore, it is not we who have
the initiative in meeting the Lord; on the contrary, it is the Lord
who is already at the door and knocking. For us the most simple,
efficacious, concrete way to meet the Lord is through the Sacred
Books. It is enough for us to let him enter into our being through
the door of the Bible with receptive heart. Then the letter becomes
in us “spirit and life”(Jn 6:63).
With regard to the
“receptive heart”, we can have another problem: the prayer. We the
Catholics are so accustomed to ready-made formulas that we have the
danger of losing the spontaneity, joy, ardor-enthusiasm and of
falling into a mere routine. When we make a comparison with the
Protestants, the difference becomes crying especially in preaching
and in praying. I think that all the questions and challenges with
regard to the New Evangelization can be reduced to one: the Word of
the Lord. Jesus himself says: “If you remain in me and my words
remain in you, you may ask for whatever you please and you will get
it.”(Jn 15:7). To make the words of the Lord abide in us, we must
begin by memorizing them. In this line, our patron is Sainte Theresa
of Lisieux, declared Doctor Ecclesiae. She memorized every biblical
passage she happened to encounter, be it in the cards, or in other
pious books. Mons. Guy Gaucher said: “She made of every branches the
arrows and of every flowers the honey”.
(2) H. E. Mons.
Diarmuid MARTIN, Archbishop of Dublin (IRELAND)
The concern I wish to
particularly address is the challenge that this manipulation of
language represents for young people in their search for the message
of Jesus Christ. Young people live in a culture of relativism and
indeed banalization of the truth often without even being aware of
it. It is a culture which they did not create. They may not know any
other culture, yet they must find Christ in the midst of this
culture while they have little familiarity with the language of
faith.
I am not thinking here
of the large groups of young people who have found strength and
support in events such as World Youth Day, but of the many young men
and women who, at what is a complex and difficult time in their
lives, in their search for meaning find themselves very much alone
among their classmates and fellow students and indeed may experience
hostility and incomprehension as they try to find or maintain their
faith in Jesus Christ.
Where are we present
among the large student population, especially for those whose basic
Christian education may well have been all but superficial in either
family or school?
The challenge of the
New Evangelization must be marked by a robust confrontation of
ideas, not in terms of ideological aggression, but in helping young
people in the discernment of ideas.
The culture of
individualism can be counteracted by the creation of a variety of
new ecclesial communities, not just those of the ecclesial
movements, but around our parishes, which will be the building
blocks of the Eucharistic communities of the future.
(3) H. E. Mons Thomas
Luke MSUSA, S.M.M., Bishop of Zomba (MALAWI)
There is a growing
impact of secularism and globalization which is driven by the
culture of “profits” and production at the detriment of the
promotion the dignity of the human person. This results in negative
effects such as the moral values, the issue of family, the increase
in the abuse of drugs, increased poverty, loss of sense of
community, and questions surrounding the value of human life. Linked
to this social phenomenon is the reality of immigration. Many people
are migrating from the rural to the urban areas or from one country
to another, usually in search of a better life, employment
opportunities and other services. This situation is causing extreme
cultural liquidity, breakdown of family bonds, less room to maintain
traditional values and identity.
The way forward for
the Church, the light of New Evangelization, is for her to be
prepared for these rapidly changing trends and be able to
collaborate with the entire stakeholders in an effort to
understanding its impact on the life of the people. There is a need
to promote programs that can strengthen the family; to address the
impact of globalization; to organize apostolates to migrants (local
and international); to promote cultural identity and to ensure that
in every circumstance, the fundamental human rights are respected.
(4) - H. E. Mons.
Julian W. S. FERNANDO, Bishop of Badulla (SRI LANKA)
Blessed Cardinal Henry
Newman once said: “priests would look foolish without lay people”.
Our ministerial priesthood has meaning only in relation to the
Common Priesthood of the faithful, though they differ essentially,
and not only in degree as Lumen Gentium of Vatican II teaches (cf.
LG. no.10).
The Church does not
lack teaching and structures to involve the Laity in her mission,
but often pastors do not seem to recognize the urgency and necessity
of entrusting the Lay faithful, with love and confidence, their
proper roles in evangelization. As the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium
et Spes begins: “the joy and hope, grief and anguish, of men and
women of our time, especially of the poor and the afflicted must
become ours as pastors and followers of Christ”, in order for there
to be a new evangelization.
The Church today needs
a well-formed and well-informed laity who can renew and sanctify the
temporal order. Therefore, formation of the laity should be on our
high priority list. Six Sectors of the new evangelization are spelt
out in Nos.51-62, and the need to respond adequately and
convincingly are given in Nos. 68-71. Can the clergy and the
religious effectively engage in these sectors that are mainly the
domain of the Laity? Is it ever possible to penetrate these sectors
without the lay faithful?
Denial of reality,
self-defense or finding demographic reasons do not augur well to
carry out the mission of the Church. We need to trust in Christ the
Lord and re-commit ourselves to Him, together with our lay faithful,
recalling the encouraging words of our Lord who repeatedly implored
“do not be afraid” and urged His disciples to put out the nets into
the deep - “Duc in altum”.
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