The New Evangelization

07-15-2018Weekly ReflectionFather Prince Raja

My first weekend in all our three parishes went really well, you all gave me a warm welcome. Special thanks to the PCCW ladies in Waumandee who served a welcome cake and ice cream after Saturday Mass. I really appreciate and thank all the volunteers who cleaned the rectory. Thanks to our office administrator Connie Sweno and Deacon Edward Wendt who walked me to all the new features of our parish administration.

Reflection on the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time is as follows:

Every human person in today's world seeks to find meaning to his or her life. People particularly young ones are often discouraged when they are unable to perceive the why of life and aim to search for it in wrong and absurd ways.

In the First Reading we heard the Lord instructing Prophet Amos to go and to prophesy to the people Israel. Amos was a native of Judah. He was a shepherd by profession and dresser of sycamore trees. Such person was called by God to be the shepherd of his people.

In the Second Reading Paul tells the Ephesians that we were chosen by God before creation and wanted to be saved by the blood of his son Jesus. The motive of God's choice is love.

The Gospel of today tells us of the mission and ministry of Jesus where the master accepts human helps to continue his work. For Jesus from the beginning it has been a shared ministry. He invites his own chosen men to work with him. Jesus sends his disciples two by two on a temporary mission. Going two by two carries with it the authority of official witnesses. Only Mark mentions this detail in his Gospel while Matthew and Luke do not speak about it.

It was Pope Paul VI who began to speak about new approaches in evangelization, in his post-synodal exhortation: Evangelization in the Modern World (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 1975). This was to be an adequate "response to the new challenges that the contemporary world creates for the mission of the Church." St. Pope John Paul II began to explicitly use the term, "New Evangelization" and to advocate it very energetically in his writings, speeches and pilgrimages. Following his footsteps, Pope Benedict, and now Pope Francis continue to do the same.