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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

Welcome!

Meeting Topic:

Paul the Apostle Today

Presenter:

Rev. Ronald Witherup, SS

Date:

13 August 2013 1:00 pm ET

Audio:

Available only through internet (computer speakers or headset)

Technical difficulties call: 800800-237 237--5515

Paul and the New Evangelization

Outline

I.A Short Interactive Survey II.Introductory Matters: Goal and Context III.Description of the New Evangelization: Six Characteristics IV.What We Can Learn from Paul as Evangelizer: Six Elements V.Our Response: Onward Christian Soldiers VI.Questions and Comments

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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

Concerning the New Evangelization Documents: • Lineamenta (preparatory document) (Feb. 2011) • Instrumentum Laboris (working document for the synod) y ) (Feb. ( 2012)) • 58 Propositions coming out of the synod (Oct. 2012) • Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio, PORTA FIDEI, on the Year of Faith (Oct. 2011) • Pope Benedict XVI’s postsynodal apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini (2010)

Concerning Saint Paul

• 13 NT letters bear •

Paul’s name (out of 27 books of the NT) P li Pauline studies t di continue to abound and new insights appear from time to time

Introductory matters

• The Goal: 

Present Saint Paul as a good model for the new evangelization by providing an overview of both Paul and his letters and the Church’s teaching on the new evangelization for the transmission of the faith.

Using Paul’s own words…

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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

Present context •Catholics do not traditionally see themselves as evangelizers •Evangelization usually identified with Protestant Evangelicals •Language of “evangelization” reintroduced at Vatican II •Historically: Histo icall Catholic missiona missionaries ies engaged in a worldwide o ld ide mission

•Announcement of “new evangelization” and the Synod of Bishops on this theme in October 2012 focused Catholic attention on this reality

•Pope Benedict XVI even established a new office to manage this theme: •PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR PROMOTING NEW EVANGELIZATION

Present context

•The election of Pope Francis in March 2013 raised questions about he would implement the Synod on the New Evangelization •Direction not yet clear about implementation •Yet commitment to the New Evangelization is unmistakable •Promotion of the “Concluding Document” from Aparecida (2007)

Biblical foundations

• Christianity, unlike Judaism, is by its very nature outward oriented • Evangelism is in the very lifeblood of the Christian faith • Biblical foundations: JESUS OF NAZARETH

Preached the “gospel” or good news Greek word euaggelion from which we get our vocabulary evangelize, evangelization “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’” (Mark 1:14‐16 )

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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

Mission shared with apostles/disciples “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matt 28:16-20)

What is the new evangelization?

• •

The term is a bit slippery at times It can be hard to tell the difference between the traditional notion of evangelization and the new evangelization

•

It is, however, possible to describe the New N Evangelization based upon the preparatory document to the synod, the propositions that came from the synod, and previous teachings, especially from Blessed John Paul II and Pope (Emeritus) Benedict XVI

•

So we turn to some CHARACTERISTICS…

Six Characteristics of the New Evangelization •Number 1: Focused on the person of Jesus Christ

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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

Characteristics •

Number 2: Call for a rediscovery of the missionary or apostolic spirit

Greek apostolos = one who is sent

Characteristics •

Number 3: Not directed merely outwardly but inwardly

Characteristics •

Number 4: Not only to individuals but to whole cultures

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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

Characteristics •

Number 5: Not merely for missionaries or professionals but for every baptized Christian

Characteristics •

Number 6: Envisions a whole process of Christianization

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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

What about Paul?

•

These six elements are not exhaustive but do orient the new evangelization

•

How does this relate to Paul of Tarsus,, whom we know as Saint Paul and who is the inspiration behind numerous religious communities in the Church, including the Paulists whose special mission of evangelization takes its inspiration from this premier apostle?

Saint Paul: the essentials •

In a nutshell: Saint Paul, a slightly younger contemporary of Jesus, was a foremost persecutor of the early church

•

Through his famous “conversion” on the road to Damascus, narrated three times in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 9; 22; 26) , Paul became the foremost evangelizer in the ancient church

•

In fact, he became known as THE APOSTLE, even though he was not one of the Twelve called by Jesus, and he never met Jesus “in the flesh” but only came to know him as risen Lord

•

Mission to the Gentiles, but never gave up on his own people, the Jews

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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

(1) conversion

• Paul is one of the most dramatic • • • •

models of conversion in Christian history Not all conversions are like his; most are slow and far less dramatic Yet CONVERSION is essential to follow Christ Not once and for all, but ongoing conversion Conversion as process

Greek metanoia = conversion, change your mind, heart, will

(2) Relationship with Christ

• Life transforming reality of the

encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.”

(Phil 3:7‐9)

(3) Urgency of Proclaiming Good News

• Paul never tired of taking the good news of Jesus Christ on mission • He traveled extensively throughout the ancient Mediterranean basin establishing churches “faith communities” ii ”

“If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge….” (1 Cor 9:16‐18)

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Year of Faith Webinar

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(4) Life Transformation: New Creation “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Cor 5:17) “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:19‐20)

(5) Individual and Communal Dimensions of Faith

• •

For Paul, faith was not simply a matter of “me and Jesus”: faith is also a call to live in a community of faith Individual and communal dimensions are important: image of THE BODY OF CHRIST “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ…. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Cor 12:12, 26‐27)

(6) Sustained by Life of Prayer, Sacraments, and Ethics

• • •

Paul knew that the church had to rely totally on God’s grace to survive and flourish His communities exhibit a strong sense of prayer, the celebration of the sacraments (especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation), and the virtues of faith, hope and love F ith requires Faith i work, k but b t it is i God G d who h makes k it all worthwhile “What then is Apollos? What is Paul?

Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Cor 3:5‐7)

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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

Onward Christian Soldiers • • • • • •

Paul sometimes used militaristic imagery in his letters Evangelization requires engagement with the world Sometimes, the faith is in conflict with worldly values R lit Ch Reality: Christian i ti ffaith ith often ft COUNTERCULTURAL Increased secularization and devaluation of religion in favor of a vague “religious sentiment” or simply a call to good human values Paul would insist on the power of the cross of Christ, strength in weakness, and sacrificing all for the sake of proclaiming the gospel message

Onward Christian Soldiers “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes f for your feet put on whatever will make you f t t h t ill k ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication.” (Eph 6:13‐18)

The call to the New Evangelization

• Every baptized person is thus asked to participate

• Paul would be a great companion on • •

our own journey of faith Elements of witness and defense of the faith but…

Also INVITATION to join Jesus and the Christian community of faith

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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

Follow up •

My recent book that will appear in September has recommendations for other resources tied to Saint Paul and the New Evangelization

SAINT PAUL AND THE NEW EVANGELIZATION Ronald D. Witherup, SS Liturgical Press

Thank you! ¡Muchísimas gracias!

Merci !

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Year of Faith Webinar

13 August 2013 Paulist Evangelization Ministries

Paulist Comprehensive Evangelization Training

• 12 Video Sessions • Theory and Practice of Evangelization • Perfect for training teams and parish staffs www.pemdc.org/pcet

Up Next…

The h Evangelizing li i Dynamics i off the h Eucharist h i Tuesday, September 10 at 2pm ET Fr. Frank DeSiano, CSP Check out the schedule at www.PEMDC.org/YearOfFaith

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