The Catholic Ark of Sexuality and why Protestants should get on board.

What ever way you look at the protestant reformation, whether you regard Luther as a hero or, if you’re like me, and view it as a most regrettable wound that still bleeds to this day, it has given birth to a movement that has become a target of the secular culture. However historically evangelical and protestant churches are known their use of the culture in evangelization. If you wish to observe societal trends, attend one of the many "mega churches" that have emerged in the past century. This method has brought many people to come to know Jesus and is something we all, Protestant or not, can be thankful for. Unfortunately, we have also witnessed the adoption of pop ideologies into their theology. 

An example of this is the influence of extreme-capitalism that formed the notion of the ‘prosperity gospel’. A very old idea, invigorated in our time by the industrial revolution, that states that who ever is fiscally successful is favored by God, leaving those who have experience any sort of misfortune out of God’s favor. An idea famously refuted by Christ himself: “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Matt 19: 21)

We now are witnessing the culture's sway in some evangelical churches again. Rob Bell, former pastor of Mars Hill Church, has recently expressed his stance on same-sex  Marriage: “I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it’s a man and a woman,

a woman and a woman, a man and a man,” .

It should be noted that Mr. Bell does not speak for all denominations of Christianity. As an act of Christian solidarity on November 20, 2009 an ecumenical manifesto entitled “The Manhattan Declaration” was signed by individuals such as Archbishop Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York, Leith Anderson of the National Association of Evangelicals, Bishop Maymon of the Orthodox Church in American, and Dr. James Dobson. This document upholds the belief of the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty. What makes this document all the more dramatic is it’s call to civil disobedience. It states:

 “We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right—and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation—to speak and act in defense of these truths. We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence.”

Although we have examples of single mindedness among christian denominations, there is still the growing trend of divergence from an authentic, biblical, and life bringing interpretation of marriage among protestant churches. I understand that this may be a faux pas for a Catholic to call upon Protestants in such a way, however the landscape of Christianity is changing and, like global warming, the flood waters are rising taking with them more and more neutral ground when it comes to the sexual ethics of the 21st century. If our protestant brothers and sisters wish to stay afloat I believe there must be a renewal to the commitment to sacred scripture and uncover what being human, having bodies, and being engendered is all about. Evidently we Catholics can help, well one Catholic specifically: Bl. John Paul II

Early in his pontificate, from September 1979 to November 1984, Pope John Paul II devoted his wednesday audiences as a time of catechesis (education in the faith) in God’s plan for the human body. In Matthew 19 He is confronted by a group of Pharisees who wished to challenge Him on the topic of divorce, but Jesus, instead of falling into the snare they were trying to set, brings their attention back to the beginning. “Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE IF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?” (Matt 19:7) they ask, to which Christ responds “Because of your hardness of heart...but from the beginning, it was not to be this way.” Matt 19: 7-8.

John Paul II, in his 129 talks, first plunges deep into Genesis‘ account of creation and man’s experience. Being alone, adam gives meaning and “names” to all that is around him, however the flora and fauna give him nothing in return in terms of his own identity. He comes to realize he is alone and is nothing like his surroundings. It is only through the introduction of Eve that he is completed when Adam exclaims “This is now bone from my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman...” Gen 2:23. What emerges is the most dense and concrete education in God’s purpose for mankind; it’s called the Theology of the Body.

On March 17th, 2013 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, after affirming his acceptance of Same-sex marriage he says “I think that ship has sailed.  This is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.” Taking his statements to their logical ends, he promotes that truth, and in this case the truth of the gospel, is relative when subjected to popular cultural mores. If this premise is true, if trends dictate the ethics of sexuality, then your sexuality has no inherit, God-given value. I’ll pose a question: How did you come to read this article? If you follow all the contingent factors that brought you to this moment, you’ll eventually reach the fact that your mother and father had sex, and their parents did, and their parents, and their parents...it’s how we bring life into our world. If sexuality has no inherit value, if it has no plan, then your existence came about with the same lack of purpose.

John Paul II’s Theology of the Body doesn’t just say there are ‘Do’s and don’ts”, it doesn’t just say that sex is great, but it says that sexual love, in it’s proper ontological context, is an analogy for the very nature of who God is...a self-giving exchange of persons.

In writing this I do not mean to judge anyone. If someone was sitting across from me and they were pale, sneezing, and drowsy I would tell them that they needed rest because they had a cold. I’m not placing condemnation on protestants, homosexuals, or Rob Bell. This is nothing but an appraisal of symptoms that I believe lead to a greater sickness. It is also not at all an adequate illustration of the Theology of the Body. There is much more that John Paul II communicated through his in-depth analysis of Genesis and God’s plan for Man. This is simply an invitation to discover and deepen your understanding of human sexuality. What Rob Bell describes as a sailed ship, is in reality the shore to the mainland.

Below is a link to a free talk by Christopher West, a famous speaker on JP2’s Theology of the Body, given to a Protestant audience. It’s called “Theology of the Body: A bold, biblical response to the sexual revolution.”

http://thetheologyofthebody.com/download/category/19

Vatican II: Aging pontiff, youthful church (Part 1)

          Pope Benedict left the Chair of St. Peter and he came to it, with great humility. The abdication of his office, outside of the media's best efforts to augment the reasons for his departure, was an act of abandonment to the will of God. In his announcement he stated that "…my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. " Pope Benedict has been criticized for, amongst other things, for leaving under there conditions when his predecessor, Bl. John Paul II, underwent great suffering while remaining the as the Roman Pontiff. Instead of ignoring this contrast we can view it with an alternate perspective, one that shows no contradiction between the two. Both John Paul II and Benedict XVI ended their Papacies in  way that can be summed up in a single phrase "This life is not about me". 

John Paul, while battling Parkinsons, could have opted for a less rigorous life style; something that would have reflected, and be more suited to, an elderly man with his condition. The now Pope Emeritus could have also adapted his role to better suit himself. They didn't. Both of them remained faithful to The Office of St. Peter and what they believe it required of someone. If we can assume that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is a man of great integrity and humility, then I would like to highlight something hie did in this past month, the last month of his papacy, something that perhaps was missed in the excitement.

On February 14th Benedict gathers together the priests of Rome. Being the Bishop of the Diocese, having one last opportunity to speak his priests, what wisdom and insight does he decide to impart to them. Pope Benedict offers an impromptu personal reflection on the Second Vatican council. Pope Benedict, then Joseph Ratzinger, was only a young theologian at the time.  Cardinal Frings, Archbishop of Cologne, was so impressed with Ratzinger that he invited him to take part in the council. "So off we went to the Council not just with joy but with enthusiasm." Pope Benedict reflects. He describes the state of the church  as being "robust", but at the same time, "not moving forward." 

The overall mood was that the Church "seemed more a thing of the past and not the herald of the future". Many, when thinking of Vatican II, will first know it for it's liturgical reforms, but Pope Benedict connects two dots in that one statement. All that is passé, antiquated, and seemingly irrelevant is corrected with evangelization. "By the power of the Gospel He permits the church to keep the freshness of youth. Constantly He renews her and leads her to perfect union with her Spouse" Vatican II, Lunem Gentium, 1:5

It is through this interpretive lens that we can properly understand the Second Vatican Council, and as the older generation moves on, it is the responsibility of the next generation to aptly comprehend and uphold it as it was intended. This will be the first installment of a series of blog posts on the Second Vatican council as a “herald of the future”.

Theology of the (Undead)Body

Over the past couple years a cult horror genre has emerged from beneath the grave, revived by pop culture, and chaotically devoured our imaginations in a hoard of shuffling corpses. I am speaking of the latest fascination with the impending Zombiepocalypse. For the past 40 years there has been omens warning us of this uprising, starting with George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead  in 1968 to popular graphic novel and AMC series The Walking Dead. Flowing from understandable sensitivities to the gruesome elements that come with the Zombie genre, there are those who would be quick to write the whole thing off as useless. However I believe that in these movies, books, and shows there is something being said about Humanity and the Christian life that we can intently focus on without losing one’s conscience or lunch.

To begin, the notion of the dead rising to life mingles throughout the gospels. In Luke 8 Jesus raises the daughter of Jarius; in John chapter 11 Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. When the daughter of Jarius is returned to life, Christ orders the parents to tell no one, but when Lazarus is revived in the gospel of John, it is an instance that inspires a plot to kill Jesus of Nazareth. Both of these instances prefigure the resurrection of Christ from the dead.  Jesus’ authority over our world is on display, and if we contrast these narratives with today’s current fascination with the dead rising, we can see their common terrifying characteristic: they both articulately communicate that you are not in control.

Where this genre clashes Christian spirituality ultimately comes back to the Resurrection. In Zombie culture dying means to be mindlessly torn apart by bloodthirsty corpses; in Christianity dying means being brought to a new life. Jesus says “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” Luke 9:24. Human death is eclipsed by the death to our own ego. St. Paul says “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Roman 6:11. The earthly death is reduced to a footnote to a much greater story, one that is not your own. The finite reality of our own mortality, death itself, is transformed into an aperture of grace in the afterglow of the Resurrection.  “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2: 14- 15

However one film seeks to truly raise the undead to new life. When I first saw the trailer for the film Warm Bodies I thought “Wow, this could be either really good or really bad”. The story is set ten years after a zombiepocalyps followed by the age old plot of post-apocalyptic girl meets post-apocalyptic boy, post-apocalyptic boy’s brain are eaten by introspective cute zombie teenager, zombie teenager inherits post-apocalyptic boys memories of post-apocalyptic girlfriend, zombie  teenager becomes enamoured with the beauty of post-apocalyptic girl and seeks to protect her from his undead friends. As an increasingly avid fan of the genre, I had to see it regardless of if it was good or not.

*Spoilers ahead*

Jonathan Levine, director of 2011’s 50/50, essentially retells the story of Romeo and Juliet, or in this case, “R” (Nicholas Hoult) and Julia (Theresa Palmer). As the aforementioned plot unfolds, R is faced against his fellow undead friends. Brain hungry, a mob of R’s Zombie pals are after a chunk of Julia’s juicy frontal lobe but not if R has something to groan about it. Though outnumbered, R stands in front of his reanimated friends and simply holds Julia’s hand, which eventually inspires his friends to stand down. At first it is a thing that shocks them to their core, but later they realize it has truly reawakened in them something that lay hidden deep within them. The very same hoard that wanted to take a bite out of Julia stands staring at an old travel advertisement. With a light flickering behind it, the image of a man and woman holding hands is seen in the ad. It’s at this moment “M” best friend to “R” looks to another undead fellow and asks “Can you feel it”? From one Zombie to another each of them experience a single heartbeat.

 A Christian interpretation can clearly see something profound. Like our greater society, there is a mad craving for human flesh. Though the appetite may be originating from different organs, both the zombie hoards and our society seek to fulfil that hunger to the detriment of the other. To the undead, a human body could be their next supper; to secular society, a human body is merely a source of pleasure.

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8. Our first vocation as human beings is to love. By encountering that call, R, M, Julia, and the rest of their undead pals are brought to a new way of living. At one point during the film, R dares to infiltrate the human camp. By doing so he risks his “life” and Julia asks him why he did it. He responds with “So I can tell them we can change.” R, by coming face to face with the deepest yearning s of his heart, the desire for intimacy, cannot simply keep it to himself. Ultimate spoiler alert: The more selfless R is to this intimacy, the more alive he becomes. It’s only in the act of sacrificing himself, does he become fully alive again.

In watching these programs most people would more clearly identify with those who are running from a heard of zombies. To most of us, they resemble life’s harshest elements, the ones that seem to come out of nowhere, one after another. There are days when one issue comes after the next and it seems like there’s no way out. But rarely would someone see themselves as one of the zombies, who’s not just desiring a brain, but a heart.

Do we have friends in Russia?

When looking at our hits on blog, I've noticed that over the past couple months we've been receiving an increasing amount of visits from people in Russia. So much so that in this past month, they almost equal  the hits we receive in our own country of Canada.
I would like to invite our Russian friends, if they so choose, to introduce themselves by emailing us at road.emmaus@gmail.com. We would love to know who our online content is reaching out to.
Dasvidaniya,

Bill Dykstra

St. Ziggy: The Wire, The Saints, and Redemption.

Recently I have been watching HBO’s The Wire. If you are unfamiliar with the series, let me give you a short synopsis. Set in Baltimore, The Wire hosts a varied of characters centered on the city’s law enforcement and criminal underbelly. Throughout the course of the show is an ongoing effort from members of the Baltimore police department to gather incriminating evidence against the city’s top criminals, specifically the intelligent and crafty gangster Stringer Bell.  However, surrounding this mission is a myriad of characters and stories, none of which are for the faint of heart.

However, what you will notice throughout the show is the use of Christianity as a running theme. With every season is a different rendition of its theme song Way down in the hole. The lyrics are as follows:

“When you walk through the garden, you gotta watch your back.
Well, I beg to pardon, walk the straight and narrow track.
When you walk with Jesus, he’s gonna save your soul.
You gotta keep the devil; well you gotta keep him down in the hole.”

More evidence is the use of Christian art and references throughout the show. You will often see churches in the background and religious icons in the homes of the characters. There is a moment when one of the shows lead characters, Detective Jimmy McNulty, played by English actor Dominic West, asks a bartender if they have any Jamison’s. The bartender asks if Bushmill’s is okay, to which McNulty responds “That’s protestant whiskey!”.


Currently I’m only in the show’s third of five seasons, but I’ve been inspired to reflect on something I noticed in second season. If you haven’t seen The Wire’s second season, there are spoilers from here on out. I would like to highlight a character we meet in the show’s thirteenth episode; his name is Ziggy. When you’re first introduced to Ziggy, and the following episodes he’s in, it is not hard to outright hate him. Ziggy is mouthy, fowl, bull-headed, and unintelligent. He’s smaller in stature which suggests his adverse, aggressive, and annoying attitude merely exists to hide feelings of insecurity. 

Ziggy also belongs to a polish, Catholic family of dock workers The Sabotkas. Through his job at the docks, Ziggy ends up smuggling large amounts of imported goods to a warehouse owned and operated by an international crime syndicate run by a man known as The Greek. When Ziggy is cheated out of money when smuggling imported cars, he snaps. All of his insecurity surfaces when he takes a gun, one he only used for show, and murders the warehouse manager and one of the employees, an innocent bystander. Ziggy’s erratic and idiotic behavior climaxes at this point.

What follows, however, is outside of the usual behavior. He allows himself to be detained by police and signs a confession of guilt. For some reason the taking of life to satisfy his own woundedness wasn’t enough and he repents. In his most virtuous moment, when he finally gives up, it inspired me to think: Can Ziggy become a saint?
We’ll first begin with a personal favorite. St. Moses the Black lived during the 3^rd century A.D. in Egypt. He was dismissed from being a slave of a government official for suspected theft and murder. Those suspicions would be supported when later he joined a traveling band of cut-throat thieves. One night when he was stealing sheep, he eluded authorities by hiding with a colony of desert monks. What do you think happened next? Moses was deeply moved by their lifestyle. He lived a life of chaos in pursuit of temporal goods, but the monks Moses encountered lived a peace that only derived from total detachment. He joined their community, and later in his life, even became their spiritual leader, and ordained as a priest.
When a band of marauders came to loot their monastery, St. Moses advocated that his brothers refrained from violence. Instead of protecting the monastery, St. Moses and a few other monks welcomed the thieves...and they were all killed.  

When I first read about St. Moses and the means by which he died, I have to admit, it left me rather light-hearted. I think I even found it comical. It is another example of the far reaching influence of God. Most Christians have no problem believing that the presence of God spans the entirety of the cosmos, but we’re unanimously taken back when he reaches the human heart. For some reason, Alpha Centari is much closer than the heart of a sinner. Think of the people who you would consider “least likely”. He uses these people to mock the “genius” of humanity. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways" Isaiah 55:8.

Our next saint is particularly bloodthirsty. St. Vladimir lived in Rus, modern day Russia, and was the bastard child of the grand duke of Kiev. Although he was also the grandchild of St. Olga, her example was lost on him in his early life. St. Vladimir inherited the city of Novgorod, but lost his seat in a civil uprising lead by rivaling family members, the usual. After gathering an army during his retreat to Scandinavia, he returned, took back Novgorod and then some, particularly the rest of Rus.



Vlad was also a practicing pagan, not like those winter and spring solstice pagans. He founded temples and erected statues to the gods Perun, Dazhdbog, Simorgl, Mokosh, Stribog, and company. His rule was accompanied by a constant path of violence as he continued to unify (Rus)sia.  After a successful military campaign, Vlad believed it fitting to offer human sacrifice to the pagan gods, as you do. One particular incident was when Loann, son of a devout Christian by the name Fyodor, was chosen to be offered to the gods. Fyodor protested with these words:
 “Your gods are just plain wood: it is here now but it may rot into oblivion tomorrow; your gods neither eat, nor drink, nor talk and are made by human hand from wood; whereas there is only one God — He is worshiped by Greeks and He created heaven and earth; and your gods? They have created nothing, for they have been created themselves; never will I give my son to the devilsI”

The situation subsequently took the course of the usual clichés, by inspiring a pagan hoard to massacre all the Christians living in Rus. This mass persecution, however, brought Vlad to reflect on the self-sacrifice of these people of faith. He then set out a commission into the surrounding countries to investigate various faiths of Islam, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity. After learning that the Muslims abstained from alcohol, St. Vlad exclaimed “Drinking is the joy of all Rus'. We cannot exist without that pleasure." His commission eventually found themselves within the Hagai Sofia experiencing the Divine Liturgy. “"We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth… We only know that God dwells there among the people, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations.”They were convinced.

Vladimir’s inclination towards Christianity didn’t eradicate all of his previous habits. When asking Emporer Basil II for his sister Anna’s hand in marriage he mentioned that, if was rejected, he would bring his armies upon Constantinople. Basil II agreed to the wedding if Vlad was baptized.

After marrying Anna, Vladimir celebrated in the desecrating of all pagan temples on their journey back to Rus. There is debate over the methods of conversion that took place afterwards. Some sources say that Vlad threatened the people of Rus with death and forced the population of Kiev into a lake to all be baptized. Other accounts say that the people felt liberated from paganism and were eager to convert to Orthodox Christianity. The truth is probably somewhere between the two accounts.

It’s easy to impose our modern sensibilities to events that took place millennia ago. I don’t suppose he will be a patron on inter-religious dialogue, but let’s try to take the most from this character. We can see through his very imperfect example the call to evangelize. I can imagine his plain and undeveloped train of thought that, if Christianity is true, then it is true for everyone. His methods should not be imposed, however he did have zeal; Vladimir of Kiev would have to give up a harem of 300 women. If that’s not evidence of holiness on some level, I don’t know what is.

Our next example is one that we have all been introduced to, and will continue to be, every Easter season:

 ⁹ Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." ⁴⁰ The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? ⁴¹And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." ⁴² Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." ⁴³ He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:39-43.

We know very little of the penitent thief. He has different names in various denominations. He is Demas to the Coptic Church, Rach in the Russian Orthodox and Dismas to Roman Catholicism. It is his words, the words of a petty criminal, that we all recall on the last Sunday of the liturgical year “"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.". We cannot talk about saints with sinful pasts without bringing ourselves into the conversation. I admit, this was not the destination I planned on arriving to when I began writing, but here we are. 

We can criticise those in society who, by whatever circumstances, have led a life a part from the law or a popular code of ethics, but we have all failed to harmonize and imitate God’s love. If there is still hope for you, then there is hope for Ziggy, there is hope for those who are beyond our own contrived limitations

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51: 17

With the re-election of Obama, many Christians have expressed their disappointment, anger, and hatred. If you were to judge the current state of the entire world by the example of these Christians, you would deduce that there is no hope for humanity. Recently during an airing of “The Catholic Guy Show”, the podcast's host, Lino Rulli, in the wake of the American elections mentions his disappointment but also comes to the conclusion that, as a Christian, he needs to love Obama.





Some would argue that, because of his pro-choice stance, Obama's views are just as criminal as any common gangster, but the show took an unexpected turn when callers came on the air and stated that, despite their disappointment of the results, their disagreement with his policies, though they will protest against those policies, they will grow to love him as the person he is. As the popular Christian adage goes: “Love the sinner; hate the sin”.

If our the level of our sin is a representation of the love we have in our lives, would it not be logical that we need to love these sorts of people more fervently  What if it was this brand of Christianity Obama came into contact with. What if,  like the desert monks, we would find joy in detachment. If we took the good qualities from St. Vladimir, we would see no obstacle are too great for God. And, if finally, we were more like Ziggy and St. Dismas,and affirm that we have been rightly convicted and repent. Imagine the landscape of our society if we placed ourselves into the correct context: law-breakers in need of savior.

A message from the Synod Fathers to the people of God.

From the Synod for the New Evangelization:

Brothers and sisters,
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7). Before returning to our particular Churches, we, Bishops of the whole world gathered by the invitation of the Bishop of Rome Pope Benedict XVI to reflect on “the new evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith”, wish to address all of you spread throughout the world in order to sustain and direct the preaching and teaching of the Gospel in the diverse contexts in which the Church finds herself today to give witness.

1. Like the Samaritan woman at the well

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”.

2. A new evangelization

Leading the men and women of our time to Jesus, to the encounter with him is a necessity that touches all the regions of the world, those of the old and those of the recent evangelization. Everywhere indeed we feel the need to revive a faith that risks eclipse in cultural contexts that hinders its taking root in persons and its presence in society, the clarity of its content and its coherent fruits.

It is not about starting again, but entering into the long path of proclaiming the Gospel with the apostolic courage of Paul who would go so far as to say “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). Throughout history, from the first centuries of the Christian era to the present, the Gospel has edified communities of believers in all parts of the world. Whether small or great, these are the fruit of the dedication of generations of witnesses to Jesus – missionaries and martyrs – whom we remember with gratitude.

Changing societies and cultures call us to something new: to live our communitarian experience of faith in a renewed way and to proclaim it through an evangelization that is “new in its ardor, in its methods, in its expressions” (John Paul II, Discourse to the XIX Assembly of CELAM, Port-au-Prince, 9 March 1983, n. 3) as John Paul II said. Benedict XVI recalled that it is an evangelization that is directed “principally at those who, though baptized, have drifted away from the Church and live without reference to the Christian life… to help these people encounter the Lord, who alone fills our existence with deep meaning and peace; and to favor the rediscovery of the faith, that source of grace which brings joy and hope to personal, family and social life”(Benedict XVI, Homily for the Eucharistic celebration for the solemn inauguration of the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Rome, 7 October 2012).

3. The personal encounter with Jesus Christ in the Church

Before saying anything about the forms that this new evangelization must assume, we feel the need to tell you with profound conviction that the 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.

We must form welcoming communities in which all outcasts find a home, concrete experiences of communion which attract the disenchanted glance of contemporary humanity with the ardent force of love – “See how they love one another!” (Tertullian, Apology, 39, 7). The beauty of faith must particularly shine in the actions of the sacred Liturgy, above all in the Sunday Eucharist. It is precisely in liturgical celebrations that the Church reveals herself as God’s work and renders the meaning of the Gospel visible in word and gesture.

It is up to us today to render experiences of the Church concretely accessible, to multiply the wells where thirsting men and women are invited to encounter Jesus, to offer oases in the deserts of life. Christian communities and, in them, every disciple of the Lord are responsible for this: an irreplaceable testimony has been entrusted to each one, so that the Gospel can enter the lives of all. This requires of us holiness of life.

4. The occasions of encountering Jesus and listening to the Scriptures

Someone will ask how to do all this. We need not invent new strategies as if the Gospel were a product to be placed in the market of religions. We need to rediscover the ways in which Jesus approached persons and called them, in order to put them into practice in today’s circumstances.

We recall, for example, how Jesus engaged Peter, Andrew, James and John in the context of their work, how Zaccheus was able to pass from simple curiosity to the warmth of sharing a meal with the Master, how the Roman centurion asked him to heal a person dear to him, how the man born blind invoked him as liberator from his own marginalization, how Martha and Mary saw the hospitality of their house and of their heart rewarded by his presence. By going through the pages of the Gospels as well as the apostles’ missionary experiences in the early Church, we can discover the various ways and circumstances in which persons’ lives were opened to Christ’s presence.

The frequent reading of the Sacred Scriptures – illuminated by the Tradition of the Church who hands them over to us and is their authentic interpreter – is not only necessary for knowing the very content of the Gospel, which is the person of Jesus in the context of salvation history. Reading the Scriptures also helps us to discover opportunities to encounter Jesus, truly evangelical approaches rooted in the fundamental dimensions of human life: the family, work, friendship, various forms of poverty and the trials of life, etc.

5. Evangelizing ourselves and opening ourselves to conversion

We, however, should never think that the new evangelization does not concern us personally. In these days voices among the Bishops were raised to recall that the Church must first of all heed the Word before she could evangelize the world. The invitation to evangelize becomes a call to conversion.

We firmly believe that we must convert ourselves above all to the power of Christ who alone can make all things new, above all our poor existence. With humility we must recognize that the poverty and weaknesses of Jesus’ disciples, especially of his ministers, weigh on the credibility of the mission. We are certainly aware – we Bishops first of all – that we could never really be equal to the Lord’s calling and mandate to proclaim his Gospel to the nations. We know that we must humbly recognize our vulnerability to the wounds of history and we do not hesitate to recognize our personal sins. We are, however, also convinced that the Lord’s Spirit is capable of renewing his Church and rendering her garment resplendent if we let him mold us. This is demonstrated by the lives of the Saints, the remembrance and narration of which is a privileged means of the new evangelization.

If this renewal were up to us, there would be serious reasons to doubt. But conversion in the Church, just like evangelization, does not come about primarily through us poor mortals, but rather through the Spirit of the Lord. Here we find our strength and our certainty that evil will never have the last word whether in the Church or in history: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27), Jesus said to his disciples.

The work of the new evangelization rests on this serene certainty. We are confident in the inspiration and strength of the Spirit, who will teach us what we are to say and what we are to do even in the most difficult moments. It is our duty, therefore, to conquer fear through faith, humiliation through hope, indifference through love.

6. Seizing new opportunities for evangelization in the world today

This serene courage also affects the way we look at the world today. We are not intimidated by the circumstances of the times in which we live. Our world is full of contradictions and challenges, but it remains God’s creation. The world is wounded by evil, but God loves it still. It is his field in which the sowing of the Word can be renewed so that it would bear fruit once more.

There is no room for pessimism in the minds and hearts of those who know that their Lord has conquered death and that his Spirit works with might in history. We approach this world with humility, but also with determination. This comes from the certainty that the truth triumphs in the end. We choose to see in the world God’s invitation to witness to his Name. Our Church is alive and faces the challenges that history brings with the courage of faith and the testimony of her many daughters and sons.

We know that we must face in this world a difficult struggle against the “principalities” and “powers”, “the evil spirits” (Ephesians 6:12). We do not ignore the problems that such challenges bring, but they do not frighten us. This is true above all for the phenomena of globalization which must be opportunities for us to expand the presence of the Gospel. Despite the intense sufferings for which we welcome migrants as brethren, migrations have been and continue to be occasions to spread the faith and build communion in its various forms. Secularization – as well as the crisis brought about the ascendancy of politics and of the State – requires the Church to rethink its presence in society without however renouncing it. The many and ever new forms of poverty open new opportunities for charitable service: the proclamation of the Gospel binds the Church to be with the poor and to take on their sufferings like Jesus. Even in the most bitter forms of atheism and agnosticism, we can recognize – although in contradictory forms – not a void but a longing, an expectation that awaits an adequate response.

In the face of the questions that dominant cultures pose to faith and to the Church, we renew our trust in the Lord, certain that even in these contexts the Gospel is the bearer of light and capable of healing every human weakness. It is not we who are to conduct the work of evangelization, but God, as the Pope reminded us: “The first word, the true initiative, the true activity comes from God and only by inserting ourselves in to the divine initiative, only by begging this divine initiative, will we too be able to become – with him and in him – evangelizers”(Benedict XVI, Meditation during the first general Congregation of the XIII General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Rome, 8 October 2012).

7. Evangelization, the family and consecrated life

Ever since the first evangelization, the transmission of the faith from one generation to the next found a natural home in the family where women play a very special role without diminishing the figure and responsibility of the father. In the context of the care that every family provides for the growth of its little ones, infants and children are introduced to the signs of faith, the communication of first truths, education in prayer, and the witness of the fruits of love. Despite the diversity of their geographical, cultural and social situations, all the Bishops of the Synod reconfirmed this essential role of the family in the transmission of the faith. A new evangelization is unthinkable without acknowledging a specific responsibility to proclaim the Gospel to families and to sustain them in their task of education.

We do not ignore the fact that today the family, established in the marriage of a man and of a woman which makes them “one flesh” (Matthew 19:6) open to life, is assaulted by crises everywhere. It is surrounded by models of life that penalize it and neglected by the politics of society of which it is also the fundamental cell. It is not always respected in its rhythms and sustained in its tasks by ecclesial communities. It is precisely this, however, that impels us to say that we must particularly take care of the family and its mission in society and in the Church, developing specific paths of accompaniment before and after matrimony. We also want to express our gratitude to the many Christian couples and families who, through their witness, show the world an experience of communion and of service which is the seed of a more loving and peaceful society.

Our thoughts also went to the many families and couples living together which do not reflect that image of unity and of lifelong love that the Lord entrusted to us. There are couples who live together without the sacramental bond of matrimony. More and more families in irregular situations are established after the failure of previous marriages. These are painful situations that negatively affect the education of sons and daughters in the faith. To all of them we want to say that God’s love does not abandon anyone, that the Church loves them, too, that the Church is a house that welcomes all, that they remain members of the Church even if they cannot receive sacramental absolution and the Eucharist. May our Catholic communities welcome all who live in such situations and support those who are in the path of conversion and reconciliation.

Family life is the first place in which the Gospel encounters the ordinary life and demonstrates its capacity to transform the fundamental conditions of existence in the horizon of love. But not less important for the witness of the Church is to show how this temporal existence has a fulfillment that goes beyond human history and attains to eternal communion with God. Jesus does not introduce himself to the Samaritan woman simply as the one who gives life, but as the one who gives “eternal life” (John 4:14). God’s gift, which faith renders present, is not simply the promise of better conditions in this world. It is the proclamation that our life’s ultimate meaning is beyond this world, in that full communion with God that we await at the end of time.

Of this supernatural horizon of the meaning of human existence, there are particular witnesses in the Church and in the world whom the Lord has called to consecrated life. Precisely because it is totally consecrated to him in the exercise of poverty, chastity and obedience, consecrated life is the sign of a future world that relativizes everything that is good in this world. May the gratitude of the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops reach these our brothers and sisters for their fidelity to the Lord’s calling and for the contribution that they have given and give to the Church’s mission. We exhort them to hope in situations that are difficult even for them in these times of change. We invite them to establish themselves as witnesses and promoters of new evangelization in the various fields to which the charism of each of their institutes assigns them.

8. The ecclesial community and the many agents of evangelization

No one person or group in the Church has exclusive right to the work of evangelization. It is the work of ecclesial communities as such, where one has access to all the means for encountering Jesus: the Word, the sacraments, fraternal communion, charitable service, mission.

In this perspective, the role of the parish emerges above all as the presence of the Church where men and women live, “the village fountain”, as John XXIII loved to call it, from which all can drink, finding in it the freshness of the Gospel. It cannot be abandoned, even though changes can require of it to be made up of small Christian communities or to either the articulation into small communities or forge bonds of collaboration within larger pastoral contexts. We exhort our parishes to join the new forms of mission required by the new evangelization to the traditional pastoral care of God’s people. These must also permeate the various important expressions of popular piety.

In the parish, the ministry of the priest – father and pastor of his people – remains crucial. To all priests, the Bishops of this Synodal Assembly express thanks and fraternal closeness for their difficult task. We invite them to strengthen the bonds of the diocesan presbyterium, to deepen their spiritual life, to an ongoing formation that enables them to face the changes.

Alongside the priests, the presence of deacons is to be sustained, as well as the pastoral action of catechists and of many other ministers and animators in the fields of proclamation, catechesis, liturgical life, charitable service. The various forms of participation and co-responsibility of the faithful must also be promoted. We cannot thank enough our lay men and women for their dedication in our communities’ manifold services. We ask all of them, too, to place their presence and their service in the Church in the perspective of the new evangelization, taking care of their own human and Christian formation, their understanding of the faith and their sensitivity to contemporary cultural phenomena.

With regard to the laity, a special word goes to the various forms of old and new associations, together with the ecclesial movements and the new communities: All are an expression of the richness of the gifts that the Spirit bestows on the Church. We also thank these forms of life and of commitment in the Church, exhorting them to be faithful to their proper charism and to earnest ecclesial communion especially in the concrete context of the particular Churches.

Witnessing to the Gospel is not the privilege of one or of a few. We recognize with joy the presence of many men and women who with their lives become a sign of the Gospel in the midst of the world. We recognize them even in many of our Christian brothers and sisters with whom unity unfortunately is not yet full, but are nevertheless marked by the Lord’s Baptism and proclaim it. In these days it was a moving experience for us to listen to the voices of many authorities of Churches and ecclesial communities who gave witness to their thirst for Christ and their dedication to the proclamation of the Gospel. They, too, are convinced that the world needs a new evangelization. We are grateful to the Lord for this unity in the necessity of the mission.

9. That the youth may encounter Christ

The youth are particularly dear to us, because they, who are a significant part of humanity’s and the Church’s present, are also their future. With regard to them, the Bishops are far from being pessimistic. Concerned, yes; but not pessimistic. We are concerned because the most aggressive attacks of our times happen to converge precisely on them. We are not, however, pessimistic, above all because what moves in the depths of history is Christ’s love, but also because we sense in our youth deep aspirations for authenticity, truth, freedom, generosity, to which we are convinced that the adequate response is Christ.

We want to support them in their search and we encourage our communities to listen to, dialogue with and respond boldly and without reservation to the difficult condition of the youth. We want our communities to harness, and not to suppress, the power of their enthusiasm; to struggle for them against the fallacies and selfish ventures of worldly powers which, to their own advantage, dissipate the energies and waste the passion of the young, taking from them every grateful memory of the past and every earnest vision of the future.

The world of the young is a demanding but also particularly promising field of the New Evangelization. This is demonstrated by many experiences, from those that draw many of them like the World Youth Days, to the most hidden – but nonetheless powerful – like the different experiences of spirituality, service and mission. The youth’s active role in evangelizing first and foremost their world is to be recognized.

10. The Gospel in dialogue with human culture and experience and with religions

The New Evangelization is centered on Christ and on care for the human person in order to give life to a real encounter with him. However, its horizons are as wide as the world and beyond any human experience. This means that it carefully cultivates the dialogue with cultures, confident that it can find in each of them the “seeds of the Word” about which the ancient Fathers spoke. In particular, the new evangelization needs a renewed alliance between faith and reason. We are convinced that faith has the capacity to welcome every product of a sound mind open to transcendence and the strength to heal the limits and contradictions into which reason could fall. Faith does not close its eyes, not even before the excruciating questions arising from evil’s presence in life and in history, in order to draw the light of hope from Christ’s Paschal Mystery.

The encounter between faith and reason nourishes also the Christian community’s commitment in the field of education and culture. The institutions of formation and of research – schools and universities – occupy a special place in this. Wherever human intelligence is developed and educated, the Church is pleased to bring her experience and contribution to the integral formation of the person. In this context particular care is to be reserved for catholic schools and for catholic universities, in which the openness to transcendence that belongs to every authentic cultural and educational course, must be fulfilled in paths of encounter with the event of Jesus Christ and of his Church. May the gratitude of the Bishops reach all who, in sometimes difficult conditions, are involved in this.

Evangelization requires that we pay much attention to the world of social communication, especially the new media, in which many lives, questions and expectations converge. It is the place where consciences are often formed, where people spend their time and live their lives. It is a new opportunity for touching the human heart.

A particular field of the encounter between faith and reason today is the dialogue with scientific knowledge. This is not at all far from faith, since it manifests the spiritual principle that God placed in his creatures. It allows us to see the rational structures on which creation is founded. When science and technology do not presume to imprison humanity and the world in a barren materialism, they become an invaluable ally in making life more humane. Our thanks also go to those who are involved in this sensitive field of knowledge.

We also want to thank men and women involved in another expression of the human genius, art in its various forms, from the most ancient to the most recent. We recognize in works of art a particularly meaningful way of expressing spirituality inasmuch as they strive to embody humanity’s attraction to beauty. We are grateful when artists through their beautiful creations bring out the beauty of God’s face and that of his creatures. The way of beauty is a particularly effective path of the new evangelization.

In addition to works of art, all of human activity draws our attention as an opportunity in which we cooperate in divine creation through work. We want to remind the world of economy and of labor of some reminders arising from the Gospel: to redeem work from the conditions that often make it an unbearable burden and an uncertain future threatened by youth unemployment, to place the human person at the center of economic development, to think of this development as an occasion for humanity to grow in justice and unity. Humanity transforms the world through work. Nevertheless he is called to safeguard the integrity of creation out of a sense of responsibility towards future generations.

The Gospel also illuminates the suffering brought about by disease. Christians must help the sick feel that the Church is near to persons with illness or with disabilities. Christians are to thank all who take care of them professionally and humanely.
A field in which the light of the Gospel can and must shine in order to illuminate humanity’s footsteps is politics. Politics requires a commitment of selfless and sincere care for the common good by fully respecting the dignity of the human person from conception to natural end, honoring the family founded by the marriage of a man and a woman and protecting academic freedom; by removing the causes of injustice, inequality, discrimination, violence, racism, hunger and war. Christians are asked to give a clear witness to the precept of charity in the exercise of politics.

Finally, the Church considers the other religions are her natural partners in dialogue. One is evangelized because one is convinced of the truth of Christ, not because one is against another. The Gospel of Jesus is peace and joy, and his disciples are happy to recognize whatever is true and good that humanity’s religious spirit has been able to glimpse in the world created by God and that it has expressed in the various religions.

The dialogue among religions intends to be a contribution to peace. It rejects every fundamentalism and denounces every violence that is brought upon believers as serious violations of human rights. The Churches of the whole world are united in prayer and in fraternity to the suffering brethren and ask those who are responsible for the destinies of peoples to safeguard everyone’s right to freely choose, profess and witness to one’s faith.

11. Remembering the Second Vatican Council and referring to the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the Year of Faith

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.

12. Contemplating the mystery and being at the side of the poor

In this perspective we wish to indicate to all the faithful two expressions of the life of faith which seem particularly important to us for witnessing to it in the New Evangelization.

The first is constituted by the gift and experience of contemplation. A testimony that the world would consider credible can arise only from an adoring gaze at the mystery of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, only from the deep silence that receives the unique saving Word like a womb. Only this prayerful silence can prevent the word of salvation from being lost in the many noises that overrun the world.

We now address a word of gratitude to all men and women who dedicate their lives in monasteries and hermitages to prayer and contemplation. Moments of contemplation must interweave with people’s ordinary lives: spaces in the soul, but also physical ones, that remind us of God; interior sanctuaries and temples of stone that, like crossroads, keep us from losing ourselves in a flood of experiences; opportunities in which all could feel accepted, even those who barely know what and whom to seek.

The other symbol of authenticity of the new evangelization has the face of the poor. Placing ourselves side by side with those who are wounded by life is not only a social exercise, but above all a spiritual act because it is Christ’s face that shines in the face of the poor: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

We must recognize the privileged place of the poor in our communities, a place that does not exclude anyone, but wants to reflect how Jesus bound himself to them. The presence of the poor in our communities is mysteriously powerful: it changes persons more than a discourse does, it teaches fidelity, it makes us understand the fragility of life, it asks for prayer: in short, it brings us to Christ.

The gesture of charity, on the other hand, must also be accompanied by commitment to justice, with an appeal that concerns all, poor and rich. Hence, the social doctrine of the Church is integral to the pathways of the new evangelization, as well as the formation of Christians to dedicate themselves to serve the human community in social and political life.

13. To the Churches in the various regions of the world

The vision of the Bishops gathered in the synodal assembly embraces all the ecclesial communities spread throughout the world. Their vision seeks to be comprehensive, because the call to encounter Christ is one, while keeping diversity in mind.

The Bishops gathered in the Synod gave special consideration, full of fraternal affection and gratitude, to you Christians of the Catholic Oriental Churches, those who are heirs of the first wave of evangelization – an experience preserved with love and faithfulness – and those present in Eastern Europe. Today the Gospel comes to you again in a new evangelization through liturgical life, catechesis, daily family prayer, fasting, solidarity among families, the participation of the laity in the life of communities and in dialogue with society. In many places your Churches are amidst trials and tribulation through which they witness to their participation in the sufferings of Christ. Some of the faithful are forced to emigrate. Keeping alive their oneness with their community of origin, they can contribute to the pastoral care and to the work of evangelization in the countries that have welcomed them. May the Lord continue to bless your faithfulness. May your future be marked by the serene confession and practice of your faith in peace and religious liberty.

We look to you Christians, men and women, who live in the countries of Africa and we express our gratitude for your witness to the Gospel often in difficult circumstances. We exhort you to revive the evangelization that you received in recent times, to build the Church as the family of God, to strengthen the identity of the family, to sustain the commitment of priests and catechists especially in the small Christian communities. We affirm the need to develop the encounter between the Gospel and old and new cultures. Great expectation and a strong appeal is addressed to the world of politics and to the governments of the various countries of Africa, so that, in collaboration with all people of good will, basic human rights may be promoted and the continent freed from violence and conflicts which still afflict it.

The Bishops of the synodal Assembly invite you, Christians of North America, to respond with joy to the call to a new evangelization, while they look with gratitude at how your young Christian communities have borne generous fruits of faith, charity and mission. You need to recognize the many expressions of the present culture in the countries of your world which are today far from the Gospel. Conversion is necessary, from which is born a commitment that does not bring you out of your cultures, but in their midst to offer to all the light of faith and the power of life. As you welcome in your generous lands new populations of immigrants and refugees, may you be willing to open the doors of your homes to the faith. Faithful to the commitments taken at the synodal Assembly for America, be united with Latin America in the ongoing evangelization of the continent you share.

The synodal assembly addressed the same sentiment of gratitude to the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean. Particularly striking throughout the ages is the development in your countries of forms of popular piety still fixed in the hearts of many people, of charitable service and of dialogue with cultures. Now, in the face of many present challenges, first of all poverty and violence, the Church in Latin America and in the Caribbean is encouraged to live in an ongoing state of mission, announcing the Gospel with hope and joy, forming communities of true missionary disciples of Jesus Christ, showing in the commitment of its sons and daughters how the Gospel could be the source of a new, just and fraternal society. Religious pluralism also tests your Churches and requires a renewed proclamation of the Gospel.

To you, Christians of Asia, we also offer a word of encouragement and of exhortation. As a small minority in the continent which houses almost two thirds of the world’s population, your presence is a fruitful seed entrusted to the power of the Spirit, which grows in dialogue with the diverse cultures, with the ancient religions and with the countless poor. Although often outcast by society and in many places also persecuted, the Church of Asia, with its firm faith, is a valuable presence of the Christ’s Gospel which proclaims justice, life and harmony. Christians of Asia, feel the fraternal closeness of Christians of other countries of the world which cannot forget that in your continent – in the Holy Land – Jesus was born, lived, died and rose from the dead.

The Bishops address a word of gratitude and hope to the Churches of the European continent, in part marked today by a strong – sometimes even aggressive – secularization, and in part still wounded by many decades of regimes with ideologies hostile to God and to man. We look with gratitude towards the past, but also to the present, in which the Gospel has created in Europe singular theologies and experiences of faith – often overflowing with holiness – that have been decisive for the evangelization of the whole world: richness of theological thought, variety of charismatic expressions, varied forms of charitable service towards the poor, profound contemplative experiences, the creation of a humanistic culture which has contributed to defining the dignity of the person and shaping the common good. May the present difficulties not pull you down, dear Christians of Europe: may you consider them instead as a challenge to be overcome and an occasion for a more joyful and vivid proclamation of Christ and of his Gospel of life.

Finally, the bishops of the synodal assembly greet the people of Oceania who live under the protection of the southern Cross, they thank them for their witness to the Gospel of Jesus. Our prayer for you is that you might feel a profound thirst for new life, like the Samaritan Woman at the well, and that you might be able to hear the word of Jesus which says: “If you knew the gift of God” (John 4:10). May you more strongly feel the commitment to preach the Gospel and to make Jesus known in the world of today. We exhort you to encounter him in your daily life, to listen to him and to discover, through prayer and meditation, the grace to be able to say: “We know that this is truly the Savior of the World” (John 4:42).

14. The star of Mary illumines the desert
Arriving at the end of this experience of communion among Bishops of the entire world and of collaboration with the ministry of the Successor of Peter, we hear echoing in us the actual command of Jesus to his disciples: “Go and make disciples of all nations [...] and behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19,20). This time, the mission is not addressed to one geographic area only, but goes to the very hidden depths of the hearts of our contemporaries to draw them back to an encounter with Jesus, the Living One who makes himself present in our communities.

This presence fills our hearts with joy. Grateful for the gifts received from him in these days, we raise to him the hymn of praise: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord [...] The Mighty One has done great things for me” (Luke 1:46,49). We make Mary’s words our own: the Lord has indeed done great things for his Church throughout the ages in various parts of the world and we magnify him, certain that he will not fail to look on our poverty in order to show the strength of his arm in our days and to sustain us in the path of the new evangelization.

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.