ALL this most welcome buzz about new evangelization could be construed
as the Holy Spirit prompting the Church to flow with the times and
cope with their complexities brought about by many factors without
compromising the Church’s real identity.
This is not an easy task at all, and we need all the minds who can
possibly contribute to make this ideal float and sail even to the high
seas. Church leaders have to be most attentive to these promptings
that can show themselves in the many emerging charisms, movements and
institutions today.
The call of the times is, first of all, for Church leaders—Pope,
bishops, priests, etc.—to be truly and deeply spiritual, in vital
contact with the Holy Spirit so they, we (me included), can promptly
discern what the Holy Spirit is hinting. After all, it’s the Holy
Spirit who animates the Church, not us. We are mere instruments.
Of course, for that spirituality to fly, the able support of the
doctrine already articulated through the centuries, the frequent
recourse to the sacraments and liturgy in general, and the proper
administration of the Church structure as it is today, can help a lot.
The new evangelization cannot mean debunking what we already have. It
may mean purifying and improving some aspects, but it can never be new
in the sense of making a complete break from the past and the present.
It has to be born from the old. It cannot help but play with the
conditions of history, culture, etc.
This is the only way to be able to read the signs of the times
properly and to judge the authenticity or bogosity of a particular
charism, or to distinguish what part of it is good from what is not.
Many times, it is not a matter of making black and white judgments,
but rather to be quite nuanced but most prudent.
In short, the new evangelization should be inclusive in character.
That should go well with the much touted idea that the Church should
be participative, that is to say, as much as possible involving
everyone actively in its life, activity and concerns.
The Church, as taught, is supposed to be a living communion with God
and among ourselves. While there are invisible, spiritual elements at
play, there also visible, material factors that should never be
ignored. We are not angels, or pure spirits. We are men with flesh and
bones and subject to time and space. We have to work according to
these terms.
As an immediate corollary, we can say that what is needed especially
among the Church servant-leaders, and in particular, the parish
priests who are in direct contact with the faithful, is for them to be
very open-minded while at the same time clear about the criteria to be
used for judging and assessing things.
That’s what prudence is all about. It’s not a wet blanket to new,
innovative initiatives. In fact, it is always positive and encouraging
of creativity and inventiveness. But it knows how to set the proper
limits and dimensions—the guidelines, in short—of dynamism.
Prudent open-mindedness, I imagine, would also involve acquiring the
skills in interpersonal relationship—being always friendly,
approachable, dialogical, etc. It should incarnate what St. Paul said
about being all things to all men, or having a universal heart that
can accommodate everyone in all their variety of differences.
There has to be continuing effort to study doctrine more thoroughly
and to be most observant of developments.
This is a real challenge in the formation of the clergy. My general
impression is that there are still a lot of priests who are not that
open-minded, or if they are open-minded, they seem to lack prudence.
That’s just an off-the-cuff opinion that should not be taken too
personally. Some dated biases, prejudices and attitudes still cripple
them.
What is worse is to hear some clerics in open opposition to Church
teaching and discipline. This is part of the challenge of the new
evangelization. The confusing culture and the unpurified ethos of the
modern world have also affected some clerics and religious. That
should not be a surprise. We already had Judas among the apostles.
Another aspect to look into is the structure, machinery and the
network that need to be updated or reengineered to better tackle the
challenges of the new evangelization. There are now many more
possibilities in this regard that can be used to favor the new
evangelization.
The bottom line is to encourage everyone to be very apostolic as the
Spirit prompts him.
as the Holy Spirit prompting the Church to flow with the times and
cope with their complexities brought about by many factors without
compromising the Church’s real identity.
This is not an easy task at all, and we need all the minds who can
possibly contribute to make this ideal float and sail even to the high
seas. Church leaders have to be most attentive to these promptings
that can show themselves in the many emerging charisms, movements and
institutions today.
The call of the times is, first of all, for Church leaders—Pope,
bishops, priests, etc.—to be truly and deeply spiritual, in vital
contact with the Holy Spirit so they, we (me included), can promptly
discern what the Holy Spirit is hinting. After all, it’s the Holy
Spirit who animates the Church, not us. We are mere instruments.
Of course, for that spirituality to fly, the able support of the
doctrine already articulated through the centuries, the frequent
recourse to the sacraments and liturgy in general, and the proper
administration of the Church structure as it is today, can help a lot.
The new evangelization cannot mean debunking what we already have. It
may mean purifying and improving some aspects, but it can never be new
in the sense of making a complete break from the past and the present.
It has to be born from the old. It cannot help but play with the
conditions of history, culture, etc.
This is the only way to be able to read the signs of the times
properly and to judge the authenticity or bogosity of a particular
charism, or to distinguish what part of it is good from what is not.
Many times, it is not a matter of making black and white judgments,
but rather to be quite nuanced but most prudent.
In short, the new evangelization should be inclusive in character.
That should go well with the much touted idea that the Church should
be participative, that is to say, as much as possible involving
everyone actively in its life, activity and concerns.
The Church, as taught, is supposed to be a living communion with God
and among ourselves. While there are invisible, spiritual elements at
play, there also visible, material factors that should never be
ignored. We are not angels, or pure spirits. We are men with flesh and
bones and subject to time and space. We have to work according to
these terms.
As an immediate corollary, we can say that what is needed especially
among the Church servant-leaders, and in particular, the parish
priests who are in direct contact with the faithful, is for them to be
very open-minded while at the same time clear about the criteria to be
used for judging and assessing things.
That’s what prudence is all about. It’s not a wet blanket to new,
innovative initiatives. In fact, it is always positive and encouraging
of creativity and inventiveness. But it knows how to set the proper
limits and dimensions—the guidelines, in short—of dynamism.
Prudent open-mindedness, I imagine, would also involve acquiring the
skills in interpersonal relationship—being always friendly,
approachable, dialogical, etc. It should incarnate what St. Paul said
about being all things to all men, or having a universal heart that
can accommodate everyone in all their variety of differences.
There has to be continuing effort to study doctrine more thoroughly
and to be most observant of developments.
This is a real challenge in the formation of the clergy. My general
impression is that there are still a lot of priests who are not that
open-minded, or if they are open-minded, they seem to lack prudence.
That’s just an off-the-cuff opinion that should not be taken too
personally. Some dated biases, prejudices and attitudes still cripple
them.
What is worse is to hear some clerics in open opposition to Church
teaching and discipline. This is part of the challenge of the new
evangelization. The confusing culture and the unpurified ethos of the
modern world have also affected some clerics and religious. That
should not be a surprise. We already had Judas among the apostles.
Another aspect to look into is the structure, machinery and the
network that need to be updated or reengineered to better tackle the
challenges of the new evangelization. There are now many more
possibilities in this regard that can be used to favor the new
evangelization.
The bottom line is to encourage everyone to be very apostolic as the
Spirit prompts him.
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