The Synod
of Bishops on New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith
draws to a close as over 260 Church leaders from around the globe come up with
a final list of propositions to present to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for
inclusion in his apostolic exhortation. On 26 October 2012, the bishops
presented a concluding message which they hope will inspire all those involved
in promoting evangelization.
Excerpts
follow:
Let us
draw light from a Gospel passage: Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman (cf.
John 4:5-42). There is no man or woman who, in one's life, would not find
oneself like the woman of Samaria beside a well with an empty bucket, with the
hope of finding the fulfillment of the heart's most profound desire, that which
alone could give full meaning to existence. Today, many wells offer themselves
to quench humanity's thirst, but we must discern in order to avoid polluted
waters. We must orient the search well, so as not to fall prey to
disappointment, which can be disastrous.
Like
Jesus at the well of Sychar, the Church also feels obliged to sit beside
today's men and women. She wants to render the Lord present in their lives so
that they could encounter him because he alone is the water that gives true and
eternal life. Only Jesus can read the depths of our heart and reveal the truth
about ourselves: “He told me everything I have done”, the woman confesses to
her fellow citizens. This word of proclamation is united to the question that
opens up to faith: “Could he possibly be the Messiah?” It shows that whoever
receives new life from encountering Jesus cannot but proclaim truth and hope to
others. The sinner who was converted becomes a messenger of salvation and leads
the whole city to Jesus. The people pass from welcoming her testimony to
personally experiencing the encounter: “We no longer believe because of your
word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the
savior of the world”….
...Faith
determines everything in the relationship that we build with the person of
Jesus who takes the initiative to encounter us. The work of the new
evangelization consists in presenting once more the beauty and perennial
newness of the encounter with Christ to the often distracted and confused heart
and mind of the men and women of our time, above all to ourselves. We invite
you all to contemplate the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, to enter the mystery
of his existence given for us on the cross, reconfirmed in his resurrection from
the dead as the Father's gift and imparted to us through the Spirit. In the
person of Jesus, the mystery of God the Father's love for the entire human
family is revealed. He did not want us to remain in a false autonomy. Rather he
reconciled us to himself in a renewed pact of love.
The
Church is the space offered by Christ in history where we can encounter him,
because he entrusted to her his Word, the Baptism that makes us God's children,
his Body and his Blood, the grace of forgiveness of sins above all in the
sacrament of Reconciliation, the experience of communion that reflects the very
mystery of the Holy Trinity, the strength of the Spirit that generates charity
towards all….
In the
path opened by the New Evangelization, we might also feel as if we were in a
desert, in the midst of dangers and lacking points of reference. The Holy
Father Benedict XVI, in his homily for the Mass opening the Year of Faith,
spoke of a “spiritual 'desertification'” that has advanced in the last decades.
But he also encouraged us by affirming that “it is in starting from the
experience of this desert, from this void, that we can again discover the joy
of believing, its vital importance for us, men and women. In the desert we
rediscover the value of what is essential for living” (Homily for the
Eucharistic celebration for the opening of the Year of Faith, Rome, 11 October
2012). In the desert, like the Samaritan woman, we seek water and a well
from which to drink: blessed is the one who encounters Christ there!
We thank
the Holy Father for the gift of the Year of Faith, an exquisite portal into the
path of the new evangelization. We thank him also for having linked this Year
to the grateful remembrance of the opening of the Second Vatican Council fifty
years ago. Its fundamental magisterium for our time shines in the Catechism of
the Catholic Church, which is proposed once more as a sure reference of faith
twenty years after its publication. These are important anniversaries, which
allow us to reaffirm our close adherence to the Council's teaching and our firm
commitment to carry on its implementation.
The
figure of Mary guides us on our way. Our work, as Pope Benedict XVI told us,
can seem like a path across the desert; we know that we must journey, taking
with us what is essential: the company of Jesus, the truth of his word, the Eucharistic
bread which nourishes us, the fellowship of ecclesial communion, the impetus of
charity. It is the water of the well that makes the desert bloom. As stars
shine more brightly at night in the desert, so the light of Mary, Star of the New
Evangelization, brightly shines in heaven on our way. To her we confidently
entrust ourselves.
For
more information, please visit:
http://www.news.va/en/news/concluding-message-from-synod-of-bishops
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