On the May 29 memorial of St Paul VI, who Pope Francis called “a pastor burning with love for Christ, for the Church, and for humanity,” the Pope recommended reading his 1975 apostolic exhortation, ‘Evangelii nuntiandi,’ “which is still relevant today,” he said.
This saintly predecessor can help us “rediscover the joy of being Christian, inspiring a renewed commitment to building the civilization of love,” Pope Francis said.
As is often the case with an apostolic exhortation, it was written as a summary and response to a recently held synod. Paul VI had gathered the bishops in the autumn of 1974 to consider what the Church understands by “evangelization.”
“Evangelization in the Modern World” as the title is generally rendered in English, was Paul VI’s response.
The document is around 60 pages in most publication formats, so it is a quick read.
Here, though, are a few profound excerpts to serve as a reminder or introduction.
1
Christ’s announcement
As an evangelizer, Christ first of all proclaims a kingdom, the kingdom of God; and this is so important that, by comparison, everything else becomes “the rest,” which is “given in addition.”
As the kernel and center of His Good News, Christ proclaims salvation, this great gift of God which is liberation from everything that oppresses man but which is above all liberation from sin and the Evil One, in the joy of knowing God and being known by Him, of seeing Him, and of being given over to Him.
The Church is born of the evangelizing activity of Jesus and the Twelve. She is the normal, desired, most immediate and most visible fruit of this activity.
2
The Church continues Jesus’ work
We wish to confirm once more that the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church.
She [the Church] prolongs and continues Him [Jesus]. And it is above all His mission and His condition of being an evangelizer that she is called upon to continue
The Church is an evangelizer, but she begins by being evangelized herself. … she needs to listen unceasingly to what she must believe, to her reasons for hoping, to the new commandment of love. She is the People of God immersed in the world, and often tempted by idols, and she always needs to hear the proclamation of the “mighty works of God” which converted her to the Lord
3
Evangelization as witness
The split between the Gospel and culture is without a doubt the drama of our time, just as it was of other times
Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.
4
What witness looks like
Take a Christian or a handful of Christians who, in the midst of their own community, show their capacity for understanding and acceptance, their sharing of life and destiny with other people, their solidarity with the efforts of all for whatever is noble and good. Let us suppose that, in addition, they radiate in an altogether simple and unaffected way their faith in values that go beyond current values, and their hope in something that is not seen and that one would not dare to imagine.
5
Witness and the Word
The Good News proclaimed by the witness of life sooner or later has to be proclaimed by the word of life.
We are well aware that modern man is sated by talk; he is obviously often tired of listening and, what is worse, impervious to words. […] The fatigue produced these days by so much empty talk and the relevance of many other forms of communication must not however diminish the permanent power of the word, or cause a loss of confidence in it. The word remains ever relevant, especially when it is the bearer of the power of God.
Read the whole document here.
And today we celebrate...