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”.