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The New Evangelization
Introduction

The New Evangelization calls individuals to a deeper level in their faith life, and to have confidence and trust in God. Allowing a person to have a personal and refreshing faith experience bringing peace and joy into their lives. This call of evangelization looks at faith through the eyes of the human experience, the Church and the word, which encompasses them. The primary, and sole identity of the church is to evangelize, or to spread the good news. “The church on earth by its very nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, it has its origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit.” It is made clear in scriptures and in other documents that the task of evangelization is a crucial one, and must not be taken lightly. The new evangelization looks at as a re-awakening to the faith, a refresher in the spirituality of all.

The New Evangelization

The new evangelization was the driving force that awakened Vatican II to completely re-construct the church as a whole. This call to evangelize is not a call directed to one particular denomination or culture, rather it is directed to everyone. This call was in other words an awakening of the faith, and a spark that was able to ignite something new within all denominations, cultures, traditions, and tongues. The New Evangelization calls everyone to a renewed faith life. Before one can evangelize, one must be evangelized themselves. “The church is an evangelist, but she begins by being evangelized herself…This means that she has a constant need of being evangelized, if she wishes to retain freshness, vigor, and strength in order to proclaim the gospel” Evangelization must be the echoing of divine communion, or a resemblance of the way Christ would have lived. One must evangelize through the presence of God. Being in communion with God allows one to be in communion with the entire church, and the people of God. With this renewed faith one can go out and “make disciples” through out the entire world. In this discipleship, all efforts, words, and actions must be a desire of the heart, and not done to gain personal satisfaction. It is a task that must be selfless, and done in a way that brings God to others, in a simple, and loving way in an effort to re-ignite what may have been extinguished. Influences of the New Evangelization

Through out the history of the church there have been many influential people that have helped the church grow universally, and re-ignite the flame of peoples individual faith journeys from their personal experiences and lives. These types of people would range from saints, popes, priests, pastors, to regular people living regular everyday lives. Saint Alphonsus Liguori was known as “a model of missionary action which can also inspire us today for a New Evangelization, especially among the poor, and for a more fraternal and united human existence.” Liguori was known to be a Doctor of Prayer, whether it was personal, liturgical, or communal. His message was very clear, and always portrayed the importance of praying always. His writings were always focused on being countercultural. It was his belief that evangelization was not something for ones self, but rather it was, and is about being selfless, and serving others completely. Liguori in a very unique way, through his writings, and prayer life became a well-known evangelist around the world. Pope Paul VI, often known as the “pilgrim pope” had a major role in bringing the task of evangelization to other continents including the Holy Land and India in 1964, New York in 1965, and later to Portugal, Istanbul and Ephesus in 1967.

Influential Events

Several events through out history have had an impact on the significance of this call to a renewed faith. One of the prominent factors would be the rapid secularization in America, and the European cultures. This secularization that has developed in the past three centuries has prevented churches to rely on political and sociological factors to maintain the faith. It has come down to a personal choice, out of response to testimonies from believers in the faith. In the eighteenth century, England and the United States there were major protestant evangelical revivals, which sparked the beginning of Vatican II with Pope Paul VI who dedicated his time as Pope re-structuring and building up the idea and task of evangelization. Blessed John Paul II took this a step further making it his main priority while in papal office, making 105 foreign trips, six of them being trips to the United States. All of these efforts by saints, popes, priests, and even lay people have left a legacy of what this calling should look like.

Circumstances and Characteristics

This call for evangelization is not something that can just be done right off the bat, but rather there are some characteristics that hold it together. Blessed Pope John Paul II in his encyclical stated there are three specific circumstances for the New Evangelization. 1)	Preaching to those who have never heard the Gospel. 2)	To those who have once believed but have decided to move away from the faith and toward sciences, and technology. 3)	To those who have said that they are “spiritual” but not religious. 4)	Preaching to those Christian Communities where the Church is present and who have fervor in their faith 5)	Preaching to those Christian communities who have ancient roots but who “have lost a living sense of the faith, or even no longer consider themselves members of the church and live a life far removed from Christ and the Gospel. All circumstances are examples where the Good News should be shared.   This New Evangelization should be Christocentric.  All the messages and truths of the Gospel are to be centered on Christ.  With that all evangelization should be focused and aimed toward the People of God, with a missionary spirit.  It is the identity of the church and its primary focus.  Finally it needs to be intercultural.  All countries, and nations should hear the good news, and the truths about the faith.

The New Evangelization Today

The call to evangelize in all nations and with al people has been consistently enforced in all denominations, all in an effort to build and unite the church as a whole. This call to a renewal of faith is an inspiration to young people today to engage in a journey to grow closer to God, and to become more united with his plan and his purpose. The church as a whole will only continue to grow, and become stronger if the young people of today’s generation build it up, and push forward with a new flame.

The Future of The New Evangelization

Pope Benedict XVI takes this New Evangelization as an opportunity to “re-propose” the current faith to the modern society. He has also stated that this New Evangelization is not “a single formula” meant for all circumstances; first and foremost it is a personal “profound experience of God” Benedict created a committee that focuses primarily on the New Evangelization and will be the focus at the next Synod of Bishops. The future of the new evangelization will depend on the participation of not only the clergy in the church, but also the participation of the lay people.

A Response

The secular culture has led to a diminishing of the New Evangelization from where it originally started. This new evangelization should be resulting in new hope, a hope that is not instilled in just a human being, a science, institution, science, or technology. Rather a hope and a light that is sparked by this new sense of faith, a reawakening, a renewal. With this renewal of faith, and hope, the future church will see a stronger motivation and desire to serve the universal church.