“Non nova sed noviter”

THAT’S Latin for “not new things but in a new way.” Talking about the
New Evangelization, this Latin adage comes in very handy as it gives
us a clear guideline on how to go about this task that is immensely
necessary and urgent these days.

As the Year of Faith grinds to its final sprint these coming months,
we need to give fresh impulses to our duty to proclaim the gospel, the
very same old gospel preached by Christ and now taught by the Church,
but giving it new dressing, attuned to the temper of our times.

We have to do this duty right, since what good would it be if we get
fired up and do a lot of innovative and creative things and yet
missing the point? It’s like a runner who runs the fastest among many
other runners, but out of track. He will never reach the finish line.

First of all, we need to be sure of our fidelity to the doctrine of
our faith, understanding doctrine as Christ’s very own teaching that
is handed down to us in tradition, in sacred Scripture and the
magisterium of the Church.

We need to acknowledge its essentially divine and supernatural
character, without forgetting that it too has a human element that
obviously is subject to the dynamism of our human condition.

We need to study the doctrine well, convinced that we can never have
enough of it, since it is both eternal and temporal, always in need of
deepening and polishing and adapting and all that. It’s a living
thing.

We have to understand that this doctrine of our faith enables us to
get in touch with God, and to see and understand things the way God
sees and understands them. It’s indispensable for us to prosper in our
prayer, and in the task of our own sanctification, and that of the
others and of the world itself.

It does not only give us some temporal advantages. It’s not meant so
much for those, though it certainly does give us some temporal good.
It’s meant more for our eternal goal, our supernatural end of union
and identification with God whose image and likeness we are, and whose
adopted children we also are.

That’s why we should be eager to know the doctrine and excited to live
it. When we study it, let’s realize where it comes from and where it
is supposed to lead us. We are not simply dealing with theories and
hypotheses. We are dealing with the eternal Word of God, as old as
eternity and as new also as eternity.

Given that character of the doctrine of our faith, we should realize
then that it requires to be presented in ever new ways while remaining
faithful in its substance. We should be wary of simply parroting
doctrine until we make God’s word stale and dead as mud.

This obviously means that we understand and assimilate the doctrine so
well that we can talk about it freely and correctly, in the language
and style that the people of today can understand and get moved.

We need to learn how to proclaim the doctrine and God’s word to all
kinds of people—young and old, rich and poor, intellectuals and manual
workers, leaders and followers, etc.

While it’s true that each one of us has his distinctive style and way
of doing things, we should try our best to be open to all and quite
versatile. We have to learn to be all things to all men. If the young
want things done in rap or in R&B, for example, then let’s do it the
way they want it.

This is obviously possible only when we are truly with Christ, the Son
of God who became man in order to reach us and to bring us back to
God. There is no other way. Christ is the very source, pattern and end
of any effort to adapt while remaining faithful. Let’s be clear about
that.

And so, we should realize that for any new evangelization to take off
and fly, it has to be done in a positive and constructive way always,
even when we have to point out some negative things. It should also be
set in friendly and dialogal tones, never in an imposing and bitter
way.

What is also needed is that this new evangelization should be a
constant thing, not just a passing idea. It should be done all the
time and everywhere—especially in the media and now in the new
areopagus of cyberspace.

There’s always a happy ending

WE need to be reassured of this promise, given by no less than Christ himself.  “In the world you shall have distress. But have confidence, I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16,32) These words should be indelible in our consciousness.

We have to learn to look beyond the present trials and challenges with the accompanying ups and downs, so that we can go through them, not escape from them, without being swallowed up by their logic that would simply pass away anyway.

What matters is what remains in the heart after going through these experiences. Are we still with God through them and after them? Is our faith strengthened? Our hope and charity as well? For as long as we are with God, our life will always have a happy ending regardless of what we may go through.

Christ has more than amply warned us about what to expect in the world if we are to follow him faithfully. “Behold I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves,” he said, already giving us a vivid idea of the contrast between a Christian life consistently lived and the world environment that still needs to be redeemed.

Let’s remember that our freedom either can catapult us to the acme of goodness or plunge us into the depth of evil and malice. We should try to be ready to face the possible worst scenario even as we strive to achieve the best of what we can be.

We should not make a big issue about the trials and challenges that will surely come our way in this life. Without denying their seriousness, of course, let us also realize more deeply that these trials and challenges cannot actually destroy our soul if we don’t allow them.

In fact, the proper attitude to have and to cultivate is that of fearlessness. Christ himself said so many times. “Be not afraid,” was a constant reassurance he told his disciples. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul,” (Mt 10,28) he said once, practically telling us that we can always shield the soul from anything that can happen in our body, if we want to.

And so, together with fearlessness, another trait we should try to develop is that of sportsmanship in the many and even formidable and complicated struggles we have to wage in our present life. And I would add, also a certain degree of elegance and poise, if we can still manage it especially when the going gets rough.

It’s faith and trust in God, it’s hope and a burning love for God that would enable us to do all this. It’s these theological virtues that would enable us to transcend the limits of human endurance.

If we would just rely on our common sense, our human cleverness and our sciences and arts without the support of faith, hope and charity, then for sure we would not go the distance. We would fail to share in the victory of Christ expressed in his very resurrection after a painful death of crucifixion.

Of course, neither should we abandon our common sense and all the other human powers and faculties in living out our human condition in the world. Doing so would be tantamount to tempting God and to falling into mere fideism that can assume many forms such as superstition, quietism, idealism, etc.

Christ told us very clearly that we need to be shrewd, clever and astute like serpents but simple, harmless and innocent like doves. It’s quite a combination, possible only when one is truly with Christ. Otherwise, we open ourselves to the possibility of some psychological disorder.

We should never be naïve in the things of the world, but neither should we become cynical and skeptical, overly worried or too concerned. A certain sense of detachment and abandonment is always healthy. God’s providence never fails.

In the story of Joseph and his brothers, we can learn how the evil intended by Joseph’s brothers resulted in some good in the sense that Joseph came out saving his brothers and the whole clan from hunger. Much more than that, the evil inflicted on him occasioned many virtues like forgiveness and magnanimity.

Joseph finally brought about reconciliation and unity in the whole family, making his father, Jacob, who was grieving for so long after the loss of Joseph, extremely happy at the end of his life.

There’s always hope no matter how ugly things may appear now. There’s always a happy ending, if not now, then later.

Joy in this vale of tears

WE have to learn how to find joy in this world that is often called a vale of tears. We cannot escape from disappointments and frustrations in this world, to say the least. And we even have good basis to expect great suffering and painful contradictions.

Finding joy is a matter of choice. If we want it, we will have it. If we look for it, we surely can find it. What we have to avoid is the attitude of simply waiting for it to come. More than that, we have to make sure that our understanding of joy is the right one.

We should dodge the many bogus but showy, noisy and seductive ones that proliferate around. They at best can give only some measure of escapism, but not real joy. We should ward off feelings of envy toward those who may appear to be enjoying life because of these false causes of joy.

So we should try our best to exert the effort to look for the true reason for joy that can express itself in many, very varied ways. Let’s avoid being casual or cavalier about this task. With current world conditions that burden us with many pressures and problems, our laxity in this duty to find joy can be very costly, even fatal.

To put it bluntly, true joy is matter of being with God. We cannot have it any other way. Joy derived simply from some earthly and temporal good or value does not last. It may appear to last for quite a while, as sometimes happens. But it certainly will not last forever. It simply does not have what it takes.

Joy as a product of being with God will certainly involve some suffering in this life of ours in this world. We can only have the joy of bliss, of pure happiness in heaven. But in this life, our joy will always be accompanied by the cross.

At least three reasons can explain that. First, our natural human condition alone generate tension due to the many parts and aspects of our life that we need to coordinate and integrate.

Second, our nature has been wounded by sin that in itself already causes all kinds of suffering, from the most simple ones to the most complicated and ultimate one, like death.

Third, coping with the consequences of sin, trying to recover what we think is our original state proper to us, attempting to heal what is wounded, certainly inflicts some pain to us also.

Yet, in all these, we can always manage to find joy if we only know how. And that is to be with God who makes himself available to us by sending his Son to become man, Jesus, and who in turn has left us his very own self through the Holy Spirit respiring in the doctrine of faith, the liturgy, especially the Holy Eucharist, and the Church in general.

Only in Christ would we know how to derive meaning and joy in the many predicaments we can encounter in life. Christ shows us how to live our life in this world. It will always be a life of joy in spite of, and even because of, the pains and sufferings.

How important it is therefore to have an intimate relationship with him, by being familiar with his teaching and with the example of his life, as well as by getting into a very personal relationship with him through prayer and the recourse of the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist.

The goal to reach for us is to assume the very mind of Christ, to such a point that we can echo what St. Paul once waxed lyrical about: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2,20)

It is precisely this identification with Christ that St. Paul was led to say: “Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may dwell in me. For which cause I please myself in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ. For when I am weak, then am I powerful.” (2 Cor 12 9-10)

We should do our best to acquire this mind of Christ. This is not indulging in some kind of megalomania. Christ himself would require us to be humble, simple and patient. It’s precisely in being humble and simple that we can aspire to receive the very power of God.