(This reflection is translated by Bro. Olivier Gabona, sx)
Every Christian who objectively analyzes what is going on in the current world notices that the future of the Christian faith poses some issues and consequently necessitates new strategies and missionary impetus. In this sense, the change of strategies or approaches to mission has preoccupied missionary societies in particular and the Church in general. What will faith be like in this multifaceted world, where secularism, dechristianization, rationalism, and religious relativism prevail? What to do?
New evangelization
The new evangelization is a new pastoral approach adapted to the above-mentioned situation of the current world. The question behind the new evangelization speaks more of people in some places. They lived in a Christian culture for a certain time, but now they seem to get rid of it. According to the current theology, the new evangelization doesn't mean starting the evangelization again as if the first was a failure. Instead, it is to enter the world with delicacy and tenderness and some wounded occidental cultures. It is a path toward rediscovering the sense of life.
The responsible of the new evangelization
Who has the responsibility to engage in this evangelization? All Christians are called to participate in the proclamation of the Good News. They are called to be missionaries in their places as well as in faraway ones. In this line, the current Pontiff put it that, “In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients.To face this current world, all Christians have to be protagonists of the new ways of doing things, such as inculturation, dialogue, and compassion. In doing so, two models are to be taken into great consideration: Jesus Christ and Saint Paul the Apostle.
The Pauline model of inculturation
Inculturation is the method of evangelization through which the missionary pays attention to the mores, behaviors, and traditions of the people to whom he is sent. According to Redemptoris Missio, it is a deep transformation of authentic cultural values through integration into Christianity and the taking root of Christianity in different human cultures.
Paul's discourse in Athene at the Areopagus (cf. Act. 17:22-32) can serve us as a model of inculturation. According to Marcel Dumais' comment, Paul’s speech was addressed to a cultivated and refined audience. The letters were marked by the stoic philosophy of that time. With delicacy, he started his speech, extolling the splendor of Athens. He proclaimed that God is not far from them. In the end, he will say that Jesus is the revealer, the image of the God they were praising without knowing him yet. This discourse allows us to see that evangelization needs to be adapted to people and their cultures. Paul departed from the cultural and religious values of the people of Athens before going straight to his point.
Jesus as a model of evangelization
From Jesus, we have two approaches to evangelization: one as a dialogue and the other as compassion. Dialogue is an important tool for evangelization. The story of the disciples of Emmaus shows us how Jesus is a man of dialogue and, thus, a good missionary. He first takes the initiative to join the hopeless passengers on the road full of despair (Luke 21:13-16). He drew near them without revealing himself to them and without speaking but listening to their conversation. The new evangelization should be patterned with Jesus' example. As missionaries, we are called to join people on their roads of life and listen to how they express their joys, concerns, sufferings, and disappointments.
On the way to Emmaus, Jesus asks questions and listens to their responses. He insists on the passenger's experiences and welcomes them with respect. Since he was listening, Jesus allowed his companions to overcome their fear by expressing themselves. Only after that can Christ preach and announce the Word of Hope. It is an invitation to every missionary to be not only the man who listens but also the one who inspires trust through the way of dealing with others. In the end, the master lets himself be invited. The two disciples listened to his Word and then insisted that he remain with them. They were touched and wanted to hear more from him. They chose hospitality, the first sign to accept the message of Jesus. Therefore, in the new evangelization, a missionary has to know that not only is dialogue important but also a sharing of life when he or she is in the house of the faithful and enjoys his or her ordinary life. Let us remember that the sharing of a meal is a fitting place to encounter people.
Evangelization as compassion
Gaudium et Spes states already that the missionary is the one who shares the suffering of the people to whom he is sent. In this perspective, we apply the golden rule in our mission: ‘do to others what you would have them do to you” (Mt 7:12). In the story of the good Samaritan (cf. Luke 10:29-37), and that of the prodigal son (cf. Luke 15:11-32), Jesus taught us to act like the Father, to respect each one's freedom, to look with tenderness at those who are lost and then return to life, to forgive without any condition, etc. A missionary has to reveal the tenderness of the Father, especially to those considered sinners.
Overall, the new evangelization is of crucial importance in today's world. However, it is no use to sound the alarm for the future of the faith, for it is in God's hands. Only the Holy Spirit leads the Church towards the plenitude of truth. We cannot downgrade the necessity of our contribution to mission, through which we use some means: the formation and accompaniment of priests and lay, the formation of youth for the change of mentality, the involvement in social media that has had a great influence on today’s people.
