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Our proclamation is focused on Jesus, his Gospel and his way. Christian life is defined by an encounter with Jesus. When Jesus first came among us, he offered a whole new way of living. The excitement spread as God’s Son, who is also one of us, announced the coming of the kingdom. The invitation to discipleship and a place in the kingdom that he held out to those who heard him, he continues to offer today. This has been true for 20 centuries. As his message was more fully understood, it became evident that Jesus offers us not only a new way of living, but also a whole new way of being. As Saint Peter wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (1 Peter 1:3). This new life as child of God through baptism is revealed to us by Jesus himself: “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (Joh. 3, 5). Vgl. Bisschoppensynodes, fragment, Instrumentum laboris "Nieuwe evangelisatie voor het overdragen van het christelijk geloof" (27 mei 2012), 18-19.31
We rejoice that we have become adopted children and Saint John assures us this adoption is no legal fiction: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should become children of God: and so we are” (1 Joh. 3, 1).
The Gospel that Jesus Christ came to reveal is not information about God, but rather God himself in our midst. God made himself visible, audible, tangible. In return, he asks our love.
In the Sermon on the Mount presented in Matthew’s Gospel, we hear of a new way of life and how it involves the merciful, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who mourn, the peacemakers, the poor in spirit. Here we learn of the call to be salt of the earth and a light set on a lamp stand. Later in that same Gospel, we hear the extraordinary dictum that we should see in one another the very presence of Christ. Jesus’ disciples are challenged to envision a world where not only the hungry are fed, the thirsty are given drink, the stranger is welcomed and the naked are clothed, but also most amazingly sins are forgiven and eternal life is pledged. Vgl. Bisschoppensynodes, fragment, Instrumentum laboris "Nieuwe evangelisatie voor het overdragen van het christelijk geloof" (27 mei 2012), 23.28-29
Jesus beckons us. The joy we experience compels us to share it with others. We are not only disciples, we are evangelizers. Like those first disciples, we are called to envision ourselves walking alongside Jesus as the sower of the seeds of a new way of living, of a share in a kingdom that will last forever Vgl. Mt. 13, 1-9.18-23 Vgl. Mc. 4, 3 Vgl. Lc. 8, 5 . Vgl. Bisschoppensynodes, fragment, Instrumentum laboris "Nieuwe evangelisatie voor het overdragen van het christelijk geloof" (27 mei 2012), 25.34
That same vision we must hold out today when we invite others to open the pages of the Gospel and read about the invitation to be branches connected to the vine of the Lord, to eat of the bread of everlasting life and to hear the words of truth, words that endure forever.
We need to be able, with lively faith, firm conviction and joyful witness, to renew our proclamation with the understanding that as God spoke to us in times past, so does he continue to speak to us today. As our Holy Father’s post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Paus Benedictus XVI - Postsynodale Apostolische Exhortatie
Verbum Domini
Over de Heilige Schrift - naar aanleiding van de Bisschoppensynode 2008 Het Woord van God in het leven en de zending van de Kerk
(30 september 2010) so clearly points out, “The relationship between Christ, the Word of the Father, and the Church cannot be fully understood in terms of a mere past event; rather, it is a living relationship which each member of the faithful is personally called to enter into. We are speaking of the presence of God’s word to us today: ‘Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age’ (Mt. 28, 20).” Paus Benedictus XVI, Postsynodale Apostolische Exhortatie, Over de Heilige Schrift - naar aanleiding van de Bisschoppensynode 2008 "Het Woord van God in het leven en de zending van de Kerk", Verbum Domini (30 sept 2010), 51
What distinguishes our Catholic faith today is precisely the understanding that the Church is the enduring presence of Christ, the mediator of God’s redeeming action in our world, and the sacrament of God’s saving acts. The Second Vatican Council in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 2e Vaticaans Concilie - Constitutie
Lumen Gentium
Over de Kerk
(21 november 1964), began by recalling for us that “the Church, in Christ, is in the nature of sacrament – a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all people….” 2e Vaticaans Concilie, Constitutie, Over de Kerk, Lumen Gentium (21 nov 1964), 1 Vgl. Bisschoppensynodes, fragment, Instrumentum laboris "Nieuwe evangelisatie voor het overdragen van het christelijk geloof" (27 mei 2012), 27
The intellectual and ideological separation of Christ from his Church is one of the first realities we must deal with as we propose a New Evangelization of culture and people today. Already in his encyclical letter God is Love (Paus Benedictus XVI - Encycliek
Deus Caritas Est
God is Liefde
(25 december 2005)) our Holy Father reminded us that “the Church is God's family in the world” and that “the Church's deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of God, celebrating the sacraments, and exercising the ministry of charity.” Further he points out that “these duties presuppose each other and are inseparable.” Paus Benedictus XVI, Encycliek, God is Liefde, Deus Caritas Est (25 dec 2005), 25
Everything the Church is, she has received from Christ. The first and most precious of his gifts is the grace bestowed through the Paschal Mystery: his passion, death and glorious Resurrection. Jesus has freed us from the power of sin and saved us from death. The Church receives from her Lord not only the tremendous grace he has won for us, but also the commission to share and to make known his victory. We are summoned to transmit faithfully the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. The Church’s primary mission is evangelization. Vgl. Bisschoppensynodes, fragment, Instrumentum laboris "Nieuwe evangelisatie voor het overdragen van het christelijk geloof" (27 mei 2012), 23-26
One of the challenges that both precipitates the New Evangelization and represents a barrier to it is the individualism of our day. Our culture and the emphasis in so much of current society exalts the individual and diminishes each person’s necessary relationship with others. In our society which values individual freedom and autonomy, personal achievement and dominance, it is easy to lose sight of our dependence on others as well as the responsibilities that we have towards them. In his Paus Benedictus XVI - Toespraak
De mensen van dit land zijn bekend om hun grote vitaliteit en creativiteit
Tot de Bisschoppen van de Verenigde Staten van Amerika in de Basiliek van de Nationale Schrijn van de Onbevlekte Ontvangenis, Washington
(16 april 2008), our Holy Father taught us that the emphasis on our private relationship with God at the expense of our calling to be a member of a redeemed community “is simply further evidence of the urgent need for a renewed evangelization of culture.” Vgl. Bisschoppensynodes, fragment, Instrumentum laboris "Nieuwe evangelisatie voor het overdragen van het christelijk geloof" (27 mei 2012), 7.35.43-44.48
The Church never tires of announcing the gift she has received from the Lord. The Second Vatican Council has reminded us that evangelization is at the very heart of the Church. In 2e Vaticaans Concilie - Constitutie
Lumen Gentium
Over de Kerk
(21 november 1964), the fundamental text and nucleus of the Council’s expression on the life of the Church, the Council Fathers emphasized, “The Church has received this solemn mandate of Christ to proclaim the saving truth from the Apostles and must carry it out to the very ends of the earth.” The Council spoke eloquently of the truth that the divine mission that Jesus entrusted to the Church continues through the Apostles and their successors and will last until the end of the world. Vgl. Bisschoppensynodes, fragment, Instrumentum laboris "Nieuwe evangelisatie voor het overdragen van het christelijk geloof" (27 mei 2012), 27.92