One Minute Monk

The Abbey of Mary, Help of Christians (Belmont Abbey) is a small Benedictine community and college, with a very noble history of evangelization and missionary zeal, in the verdant foothills near Charlotte in Western North Carolina. Belmont is a daughter of St Vincent's in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and was founded by a group of monks led by the indomitable Abbot Leo Haid in 1876. Before a diocese was established in North Carolina in 1924 (the Diocese of Raleigh) the Abbot of Belmont had succeeded Cardinal James Gibbons as the Vicar-Apostolic and the monks had responsibility for many of the parishes, missions, and stations in North and South Carolina. The Abbey remained a territorial abbey with territory comprising some of the surrounding counties with the Abbot exercising episcopal authority until the Holy See suppressed the territory shortly after the erection of the Diocese of Charlotte in the mid-1970's. 

I have the privilege of being a Benedictine Oblate of Belmont and since all of my family is from the Western Carolinas we well know the influence of the monks and their college (the current governor of North Carolina is an alumnus). Furthermore, their history is an excellent study in evangelization and home mission, since it was primarily their witness that drew many in those early days of the North Carolina mission to Catholicism, because they, as all Benedictines do, presented the Christian society in microcosm and offered a taste of it to Protestant North Carolina. In so doing, they drew many to the Faith and some even to the monastic life. 

The spirit of mission and evangelization continues... 

The Abbot of Belmont has recently begun a one-minute a day radio spot dedicated to exploring "the timeless wisdom of the Rule of St Benedict." It does not appear that you can listen to any of these spots on their website, but you can order a free copy of the Rule from the site and find out more about bringing "One Minute Monk" to a Catholic radio station in your area. 

"Colonies of Heaven"

I have been doing some reading today on the "Missional Church" movement and have discovered some things I like about the movement that could easily stimulate our (Catholics) thinking on parish life. While there are problems with this movement, it can be helpful to see how other Christians are responding to contemporary culture, so that we can learn new, innovative ways- and appropriately adapt them- to more faithfully fulfill the Lord's mandate to "make disciples" in every time and culture.

1. The Missional Church is a pan-Protestant movement that locates the church's reason for existing in the "mission of God." Thus the heart of the local congregation's activity is rooted in incarnating God's life in the world. The local congregation is a "colony of heaven" on earth and that we are "resident aliens," with an equal emphasis on "resident" and "alien."

2.  The Missional Church takes "covenant" and "context" very seriously as a way of understanding the life of the local congregation. I am inextricably caught up in the mission of the Church by virtue of my baptismal covenant. The context or place in which I participate in the mission of the Church is to be valued and relied upon as a clue to the means and the method I employ to participate more fully in the mission of Christ in the Spirit (i.e. my work, my home, my social location, etc. are all contexts for mission). 

3. The local parish must be aware of its own context and value that context as the location in which they are called to incarnate Christ's life through the witness of their own regeneration and forgiveness through "water and the Spirit." While the world must not set the agenda for the Church, the Church must recognize that the world exists to be brought back in communion with God through the Church. Therefore, the world is not simply theological "other" as far as the Church is concerned, but the very object of mission and "arena of God's action in history." (George Weigel, see below)

4.  The Missional Church is rooted in the mission of the Trinity. The Trinity seeks to bring all things into communion with Them. Therefore, mission and communion are intrinsically related. 

As Catholics we have the fullest understanding of both mission and communion, but our grounded-ness in the Trinity and the relationship of Trinitarian life to mission are undervalued as a source for the life and work of our local parishes. We must relearn (in practical ways, because we well know it theologically) that to make disciples is to begin the process of incorporation into the life of the Church, which is "a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Lumen Gentium 4, St Cyprian).

Sources: Missional, Emerging, Monastic: A Traveler's Guide by Len Hjalmarson, On Making Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, William Abraham in Marks of the Body of Christ, ed. by Carl Braaten and Robert W. Jenson (Eerdmans, 1999),  Robert W. Jenson, The Church's Responsibility for the World, in The Two Cities of God, ed. by Carl Braaten and Robert W. Jenson (Eerdmans, 1997), and George Weigel, The Church's Political Hopes for the World in The Two Cities of God. 

Homilies

One of the chief opportunities for evangelization and formation is the homily during the Mass. It is in the homily that most Catholics will receive their formation and those who may not be intentional disciples have an opportunity to hear the "ardent proclamation" that Jesus is Lord and that a personal relationship with him is possible. However, it is my experience that many homilists fall into a standard homiletic pattern in which the Word-upon which the homilist is charged with commenting-is not given priority, but only becomes a tool for illuminating or commenting upon experience. 

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says that "It (the homily) should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or from the Proper of the Mass of the day and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners." 

Richard Lischer, a well-known Lutheran preacher and professor of Homiletics at Duke Divinity School says that many prefer 

to build the sermon on the authority of the needs, capacities, and experiences of the listener.... The common solution appears to be: Scratch deeply enough into the postmodern psyche and you will hit a vein of genuine spirituality. One way to tap into it is to tell stories whose religious dimension is recognizable and acceptable to all, and then to correlate the experience generated by these stories with the Christian message, e.g., "grace." When done successfully, the presence of Christ radiates as a spiritual dimension of everyday life. When the reliance on experience dominates the sermon, the gospel becomes an illustration of a greater truth. 

Richard Lischer, "Resurrection and Rhetoric." In Marks of the Body of Christ, ed. by Carl E. Braaten and Robert W. Jenson, 13-24. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999. 

Of course, the problem is clear: the gospel is neither a mere "illustration" nor an indicator of some deeper, more transcendent truth that is really the heart of what we preach, rather it is itself the very content of our preaching and the "power of God for salvation." (Romans 1.16) 

A proposal

I have been pondering a question for the past several days: what is the "engine" of evangelization? I suppose the root of this question is some recent reading I have done about the Benedictine evangelization of Europe and reform of the Church in the early Middle Ages. Why was it that the monastic movement was so successful in evangelizing Europe? First, I think it is because Benedictines propose the whole pattern of Christian life in microcosm through their prayer, work, and community life. Secondly, at the heart of monastic life was (and is) prayer and contemplation. What efforts do we make in our parishes and dioceses, even when we have the best intentions for evangelization, at prayer, which is the engine of evangelization? This brings me to my proposal: what if every parish and diocese that wanted to take evangelization seriously started with two basic, but essential steps.

1) Establish Eucharistic adoration at the heart of the parish or diocese and formed adorers to intercede not simply for personal needs, but for "kingdom" needs. What if they prayed before Jesus-Host for the pope, bishop, priests, deacons, religious, and laity and their role in the mission of the Church? What if they interceded for Catholic newspapers, radio, television,  for other organizations committed to the "New Evangelization," for seminarians, seminaries, seminary professors, and religious formators? But most importantly, what if they prayed for all of those who don't know Jesus? What if they interceded, when possible by name, for those who don't practice the faith or for those who have become lukewarm? What if we took before the Eucharistic Emmanuel those in the public eye who don't know Jesus, the imprisoned of our communities, the addicted, the abused and their abusers, the unloved, those involved in grave sin, and those whom we hurt by our sin? Finally, what if we prayed for God to prepare the hearts of the ignorant and soften the hearts of the obstinate to receive an encounter with our Lord? Establishing disciples in this sort of prayer life before the Eucharistic Lord not only forms them into apostles of prayer, but makes fertile the soil for the preaching of the Gospel in the diocese or parish. This would be a great first step in implementing any comprehensive program of evangelization at any level of the Church's life. 

2) We must engage all consecrated men and women, but especially contemplatives, in the task of evangelization according to their charism and state of life. What if we began our efforts in evangelization by first going to those who have been consecrated in a unique and intense way to the love of God and invited their unique contributions and participation in evangelizing the diocese or parish? What if we were intentional in calling upon them as partners in our apostolate? And can we not also call upon God to raise up new forms of life and more men and women to join us in this task according to the various charisms and states of life God has given the Church? Would we pray for God to raise up consecrated hermits and virgins from within our parish? 

As I have thought about these things I have come to renewed conviction that prayer and contemplation is the "engine" of evangelization. The most successful evangelical movements within the life of the Universal Church testify to this. The Benedictines are one ancient example, the contemplative branch of the Missionaries of Charity a more recent example, and let us not forget that St Dominic established a monastery of contemplative nuns at Prouille some years before the first Friars gathered in Toulouse. The chronological priority of the contemplative nuns underlines the spiritual priority of contemplation and prayer in the mission of the Order. However, the same truth applies to the preaching of the Universal Church: our preaching is made fruitful by prayer and contemplation. I propose that we rediscover the heart of the contemplative life as a gift to Mother Church for the sake of her mission.

Art and Evangelization

As a follow-up to my last post... 

Here is a quote of Cardinal Ratzinger's that I first saw in Fr John Saward's book The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty (Ignatius, 1997), but which I think is from The Spirit of the Liturgy: 

the only really effective apologia for Christianity comes down to two arguments, namely the saints the Church has produced and the art which has grown in her womb. Better witness is borne to the Lord by the splendor of holiness and art which have arisen in the community of believers than by the clever excuses which apologetics has come up with to justify the dark sides which, sadly, are so frequent in the Church's human history. 

For some time now there seems to have been a proliferation of lay Catholic apologists on the national speaking circuit and while they do great work, the sort of propositional apologetics they practice cannot become a substitute for true evangelization that is an encounter with the Person, Jesus Christ. I think the Holy Father's invitation here is to recognize that a far better approach to evangelization and apologetics is found in the saints, art, and the community of disciples that gives rise to these under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I am afraid that we often substitute propositional apologetics for the hard work of genuine holiness, creativity born of prayer, and fostering the types of Christian communities that bear witness to Christ in the world. 

The Organ: Tool for Evangelization

Taking Sherry's less-than-subtle hint... 

On Sunday, Pope Benedict met with a group of singers from his home diocese of Regensburg, Germany and made some interesting comments about music and evangelization. 

Here is the account from Zenit:

Benedict XVI told his visitors he was pleased with their visit. "It revives in me the memory of that wonderful day, in which I was able to bless the new organ, the 'Benedikt-Orgel,' in the 'Old Chapel,'" reported the Vatican press office.

He said: "I have an indelible memory of how -- in the harmony of that wonderful organ, of the choir conducted by Kohlhaufel, and the luminous beauty of the church -- we experienced the joy that comes from God. Not just the 'spark of the gods' of which Schiller speaks, but truly the flame of the Holy Spirit that brought us to feel in our innermost being what we also know from the Gospel of St. John: That he himself is joy. And this joy was communicated to us."

The Pope added how pleased he was that this organ "continues to play and to help people perceive something of the splendor of our faith -- a splendor kindled by the Holy Spirit himself. With it, the organ carries out an evangelizing function, proclaims the Gospel in its own way."

Pope Benedict has been very keen, even from before his election to the See of Peter, to emphasize the evangelizing power of beauty as expressed particularly in the arts and the lives of the saints. If the pope is to be believed on this point- and I think he is- more effort should be made to emphasize the tradition of beauty in Christian art and music, particularly in the presence of non-Christians. A concert of Christian music or a presentation on Christian art, especially if it takes place outside of the church building, would be an excellent pre-evangelization activity, a means to establish trust or encourage curiosity, and a great way to involve a church choir, musicians, or parish artists in the work of evangelization. It would also encourage them to see their own personal apostolate in the arts in unity with the mission of the Church.

The Crossroads Cultural Center in Washington and New York is related to the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation and often sponsors events that emphasize the importance of beauty in light of a dialogue with the world. Their website features a video retrospective of their 2007-2008 season and presents the full range of their activities. Their work is one possible expression of the types of activities the Holy Father seems to be encouraging. 

"Can the West be converted?"

Sherry drew our attention yesterday to an interesting article from the most recent issue of Lausanne World Pulse, an evangelical journal dedicated to the study and discussion of world missions. As I was perusing this issue I came across a very interesting question that the great missionary and theologian Leslie Newbigin posed upon his return from the mission fields of India: "Can the West be converted?" Embedded in that question, of course, is not only the can, but also the how. 

The whole bit: 

Over two decades ago Lesslie Newbigin asked a question that has yet to be sufficiently grappled with. Returning from India (where he had served as a missionary) to his home in the United Kingdom, he discovered that the Western world was just as much a valid mission field as the India he had departed from, and that Christians needed to be thinking missionally in the Western context just as much as outside of it. This prompted him to ask the question, “Can the West be converted?” a query that has consumed the thinking of increasing numbers of church workers in the Western world. Sadly, as Newbigin surveyed missiological literature for application to the West he concluded: 

The weakness, however, of this whole mass of missiological writing is that while it has sought to explore the problems of contextualization in all the cultures of humankind from China to Peru, it has largely ignored the culture that is the most widespread, powerful, and persuasive among all contemporary cultures—namely, what I have called modern Western culture.

With the global shift of Christianity’s growth from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere, and the increasingly pluralistic and post-Christian nature of the West, the presence of the new religions and subjective life spiritualities may provide us with a context by which we can work through answers to Newbigin’s question and experiment with the development of new approaches at contextualization and new theologies for the rapidly changing Western world. 

The whole article is here.

Pope Praises Work of Lay Evangelizers

Zenit has an account of the Pope's comments when receiving the bishops of Honduras on their ad limina visit here. 

The presence of lay evangelists and "delegates of the Word" is apparently very important in the life of the Church in many places in Latin America. However, with the influx of immigrants from Central and Latin America in this country we would do well to increasingly rely on their training and formation when they become members of our communities in the United States. 

I have firsthand experience of the great value of the formation that many Latin Americans receive to proclaim the Word especially in catechetical settings from my time working at a small, rural parish in eastern North Carolina where we were very reliant upon their efforts within the Hispanic community. I worked with an 18 year old who had received some training and formation from his pastor in North Carolina and provided the Spanish language components of our multi-parish Confirmation retreat. He was by far one of the most effective preachers I have ever encountered. He held 90 other Confirmation candidates spellbound for over an hour as he preached on the power of Confirmation as a personal Pentecost. You could have heard a pin drop. 

Catholic Evangelization in the South

On the whole, one of the great missed opportunties for Catholic evangelization, education, and charity in this country is the rural South. My parents just drew my attention to a recent article in USA Today that highlighted the continuing problems and shrinking populations in the 623 rural counties that make up the South's "Black Belt" ("named for the rich, dark topsoil that drew plantation owners to the region"). While there are some places in the South such as New Orleans, St Augustine, Mobile, and Charleston that have very historic Catholic populations dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries or earlier and others have heavy "immigrant" (read "Yankee") Catholic populations (i.e. the Triangle in North Carolina, most of Florida, and the exemplary "new South" cities such Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville), a great swath of the South has been recently left behind or ignored by the Catholic Church in the United States both in terms of evangelical initiatives and social apostolates.

Several months ago a good priest friend of mine in the diocese of Raleigh who is also an American church historian showed me a copy of the main Florida Catholic newspaper from 1943 or so that had an account of the annual meeting of the "Catholic Committee of the South" at which Mother Katharine Drexel spoke, no doubt about the need for evangelization and dynamic social apostolates in the states of the former Confederacy. It was very touching to read and a stark reminder of how much St Katharine and others were able to accomplish for the Catholic Church in the rural South and how little has been done since the 1960's.

The article in USA Today should remind us of the great economic and social needs that persist in the South, as well as the fact that most of the counties of the rural South still have dreadfully low Catholic populations and are not only underserved by the ordained, but have little in the way of lay apostolates, especially in the field of education. It is my conviction that the Catholic Church should be most actively present in those places where human need is greatest. Many look abroad to find those places, but few dedicate themselves to work in the home missions. The rural South has for the most part been left behind the rest of the country when it comes to education, however, even in light of this fact few Catholic schools can be found in those areas to provide a Catholic remedy the problem. When Catholics find human need they should not simply rely on the state to address the root problems of the needs, but should propose solutions themselves that are derived from the genius of Catholic pastoral wisdom and social doctrine. This article should remind us that we have plenty to do here in the rural parts of our own country, especially in the South, in Appalachia, and on the Great Plains, and it is the particular gift of the layman to make the sorts of contributions in secular fields that could turn those depressed regions of our country around for the better and bring to them the light of the Gospel and authentic human progress.

I would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has ideas or pastoral experience that may help those of us who are Southerners faithfully exercise our lay apostolate more effectively in our home region. In doing so, I hope we are able to give new, spiritual meaning to the phrase "the South will rise again!"

You may also wish to check out the book Saving the Heartland: Catholic Missionaries in Rural America, 1920-1960, by Jeffrey D. Marlett. (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2002.) which highlights the many evangelical and social efforts, including some funded or executed by St Katharine Drexel and her sisters, that Catholics undertook to bring Christ, his Gospel, and the genius of Catholic social doctrine to America's rural places.

Pope's Homily at Eucharistic Congress

The Pope's homily from the International Eucharistic Congress has been translated by Zenit and full-text is now available here. He touched on a number of interesting topics, several of which have been discussed on this blog in the past. I have also linked to information about the Canadian saints and beati that he mentioned in the homily. 

It is, therefore, particularly important that pastors and faithful dedicate themselves permanently to furthering their knowledge of this great sacrament. Each one will thus be able to affirm his faith and fulfill ever better his mission in the Church and in the world, recalling that there is a fruitfulness of the Eucharist in his personal life, in the life of the Church and of the world. The Spirit of truth gives witness in your hearts; you also must give witness to Christ before men, as the antiphon states in the alleluia of this Mass. Participation in the Eucharist, then, does not distance us from our contemporaries; on the contrary, because it is the expression par excellence of the love of God, it calls us to be involved with all our brothers to address the present challenges and to make the planet a place where it is good to live.

To accomplish this, it is necessary to struggle ceaselessly so that every person will be respected from his conception until his natural death; that our rich societies welcome the poorest and allow them their dignity; that all persons be able to find nourishment and enable their families to live; that peace and justice may shine in all continents. These are some of the challenges that must mobilize all our contemporaries and for which Christians must draw their strength in the Eucharistic mystery.

snip.

Reception of the Eucharist, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament -- by this we mean deepening our communion, preparing for it and prolonging it -- is also about allowing ourselves to enter into communion with Christ, and through him with the whole of the Trinity, so as to become what we receive and to live in communion with the Church. It is by receiving the Body of Christ that we receive the strength "of unity with God and with one another" (Saint Cyril of Alexandria, In Ioannis Evangelium, 11:11; cf. Saint Augustine, Sermo 577).

We must never forget that the Church is built around Christ and that, as Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Albert the Great have all said, following Saint Paul (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:17), the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Church's unity, because we all form one single body of which the Lord is the head. We must go back again and again to the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, where we were given a pledge of the mystery of our redemption on the Cross. The Last Supper is the locus of the nascent Church, the womb containing the Church of every age. In the Eucharist, Christ's sacrifice is constantly renewed, Pentecost is constantly renewed. May all of you become ever more deeply aware of the importance of the Sunday Eucharist, because Sunday, the first day of the week, is the day when we honor Christ, the day when we receive the strength to live each day the gift of God.

I would also like to invite the pastors and faithful to a renewed care in their preparation for reception of the Eucharist. Despite our weakness and our sin, Christ wills to make his dwelling in us, asking him for healing. To bring this about, we must do everything that is in our power to receive him with a pure heart, ceaselessly rediscovering, through the sacrament of penance, the purity that sin has stained, "putting our soul and our voice in accord," according to the invitation of the Council (cf. "Sacrosanctum Concilium," No.11). In fact, sin, especially grave sin, is opposed to the action of Eucharistic grace in us. However, those who cannot go to communion because of their situation, will find nevertheless in a communion of desire and in participation in the Mass saving strength and efficacy.

The Eucharist had an altogether special place in the lives of saints. Let us thank God for the history of holiness of Quebec and Canada, which contributed to the missionary life of the Church. Your country honors especially its Canadian martyrs, Jean de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues and their companions, who were able to give up their lives for Christ, thus uniting themselves to his sacrifice on the Cross. They belong to the generation of men and women who founded and developed the Church of Canada, with Marguerite Bourgeoys, Marguerite d'Youville, Marie of the Incarnation, Marie-Catherine of Saint Augustine, Mgr Francis of Laval, founder of the first diocese in North America, Dina Belanger and Kateri Tekakwitha. Put yourselves in their school; like them, be without fear; God accompanies you and protects you; make of each day an offering to the glory of God the Father and take your part in the building of the world, remembering with pride your religious heritage and its social and cultural brilliance, and taking care to spread around you the moral and spiritual values that come to us from the Lord.

The Eucharist is not a meal among friends. It is a mystery of covenant. "The prayers and the rites of the Eucharistic sacrifice make the whole history of salvation revive ceaselessly before the eyes of our soul, in the course of the liturgical cycle, and make us penetrate ever more its significance" (Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, [Edith Stein], Wege zur inneren Stille Aschaffenburg, 1987, p. 67). We are called to enter into this mystery of covenant by conforming our life increasingly every day to the gift received in the Eucharist. It has a sacred character, as Vatican Council II reminds: "Every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree " ("Sacrosanctum Concilium," No. 7). In a certain way, it is a "heavenly liturgy," anticipation of the banquet in the eternal Kingdom, proclaiming the death and resurrection of Christ, until he comes (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:26)...

Evangelization and the Eucharistic Congress

More from the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec... 

This is a good account from the Archdiocese of Toronto blog of the testimony of Jose H. Prado Flores who founded the San Andres School of Evangelization. 

This morning’s witness talk was given by Mr. Jose H. Prado Flores, Director/Founder of the San Andres School of Evangelization. He spoke in spanish of his own faith journey, comparing it to a can of Diet Coke – light, with zero calories. While he studied theology and was a student of the church, everything was in his head but hadn’t been transferred to his heart.

Filled with great energy and a knack for humour, Mr. Flores used several props throughout his presentation to illustrate his points. A frozen steak was presented to illustrate that his faith was frozen, a remote control touched on our desire to change the channel when life is not going as we would like. A road map was produced to speak of the fact that while God has ultimate control we still want to control the direction of our life and where we are headed.

Finally a balloon was inflated to show that we can all be filled with the word of God – our tendency is to tie up the balloon as opposed to letting the Holy Spirit move where it needs to be. The visual of bishops and the congregation joyfully blowing up their balloons and just “letting go” was a powerful message that led to a standing ovation and plenty of food for thought.

Mr. Flores has helped found over 2,000 schools in 61 countries, providing evangelization to communities around the world. Today, another 11,000 were schooled in what it means to live one’s faith, to let go and let God be God…

Sounds amazing. 

I hope to blog on the Pope's homily from yesterday's Statio Orbis Mass when the full English text becomes available on the Vatican website.

Mere Christianity Forum Vista House

When I was an undergraduate at Furman University I had the opportunity to help establish an intentional and ecumenical Christian community and house of hospitality as part of the Mere Christianity Forum. We called the house and community "Vista House." This mission statement is on the Vista House website:  

Vista House attempts to accomplish the overall mission of Mere Christianity Forum by creating a location where authentic, intentional Christian community is fostered, the good, true and beautiful is pursued, and the growth of the entire person is encouraged.

Our off-campus facility, Vista House, is a living, relational community of Christians who model and share the vision and love of Christ. By serving both the Furman University and greater Greenville community with the preparing and serving of meals, the creation of a warm and inviting atmosphere suitable for discussion and retreat, and the forging of genuine relationships with others through community, Vista House fellows and regular attendees of the Mere Christianity Forum attempt to model the holistic Christian life. The goal of Vista House is to paint a vista, a landscape, of the beauty and truth of the Christian life in a comfortable environment by persons living in an intentional Christian community.

Sherry and I were speaking earlier today about how to evangelize post-moderns and one thing we considered essential was the witness of intentional communities willing to witness faithfully to Christ and the Gospel through their community life, hospitality, right Christian practice (as a necessary complement to right Christian belief or orthodoxy), and the encounter with beauty. Monastic life did much of what we seek to do at Vista House (indeed monastic authors played a huge role forming us in preparation for establishing Vista House) in the evangelization of Europe and a renewal along those lines was called for by Alasdair MacIntyre at the end of After Virtue. We must remember that in a post-modern and post-Christian age propositional apologetics will not be effectively used in the same ways they used to be. However, as the emergent church is teaching us, the witness of truth, goodness, and beauty lived, particularly in communities and transcendent worship rooted in Christian tradition, will be a more effective means of evangelization than the apologetics of the past. We recognized this five years ago in the establishment of Vista House and I offer it as a witness to the possibilities for effectively evangelizing post-moderns. 

Catholic Underground

Today I came across a unique project out of Louisiana called Catholic Underground (not the NYC Franciscan Friars of the Renewal initiative), which is a regular podcast hosted by two priests, a layman, and some other regular guest panelists.  It seems that they are really serious about proclaiming the Gospel using new media. 

Check them out here. 

Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuân

Yesterday, those tuning into the proceedings of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec heard the testimony of Elizabeth Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, the sister of the late Archbishop of Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City and President of the Pontifical Council Iustitia et Pax Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuân. Those of you familiar with his writings and the story of his life are well aware of his great witness to Jesus Christ. His sufferings were tremendous: 13 years in a Vietnamese prison, 9 years in solitary confinement, the inability to freely shepherd his flock, and finally the incurable stomach cancer that killed him in 2002. However, throughout it all he had his gaze totally fixed on Jesus, particularly in His Eucharistic Presence. Elizabeth had much to say about her brother and his relationship with our Lord, but for our purposes her meditation on the Eucharist and missionary activity was particularly striking: 

The Eucharist is the heart and soul of missionary activity. Indeed it was during those years of silence and solitude, cut off from all pastoral duties, but intimately united to the Eucharist that Francis understood with his whole being that it is only God, and not God's work, that should be the centre of our lives. That understanding opened the door to the Holy Spirit to transform those years of severe restrictions into the most active and fruitful evangelization periods of his life.

ln his book Five Loaves and Two Fish, Francis recounted the special period of his life which he considered as his period of major spiritual growth. Many times I was tempted, tormented by the fact that I was only 48 years old, in the prime of my life. I had acquired a great deal of pastoral experience, and there I was, isolated, inactive, separated from my people. One night I heard a voice encouraging me from the depth of my heart: ‘Why do you torment yourself so? You must distinguish between God and the work of God. You must choose God alone, and not his works.

When the communists threw him into the old of a cargo ship headed to Haiphong, 1700 m north, he suddenly found himself among some 1500 desperate, starving prisoners. He sensed their anger, their despair and desire for revenge, and he started to share in their human suffering; but with the inner voice immediately urging him to choose God, and not the works of God, he quickly realized that, in that captive company, he had just been handed a cathedral full of faithful to minister to. He decided to be an affirmation of God's presence in the midst of that cargo of human misery. He sustained his fellow prisoners during the 10-day trip, and managed to provide comfort for them.

By the time the cargo ship of prisoners reached Haiphong, Thuan realized he was already following Jesus to the roots of evangelization. It was like going with Him to die "extra muros", i.e., outside the walls, outside the sacred walls (Five Loaves and Two Fish).

Van Thuan described how he practised his ministry in the Vinh Quang Prison Camp: At night, the prisoners would take turns for adoration. With His silent presence, the Eucharistic Jesus helped us in unimaginable ways. Many Christians returned to a fervent faith ife, and their quiet display of service and love had an even greater impact on other prisoners. Even Buddhists and other non-Christians joined in the faith. The strength of Jesus' loving presence was irresistible. The darkness of prison became a paschal light, and the seed germinated in the ground during the storm. The prison was transformed into a school of catechesis. Catholics baptised fellow prisoners and became godparents to their companions.

Zenit has the whole text of her testimony here. 

St Columbanus, on the front lines of mission, Synod of Bishops, and WYD social networking

I am back in Colorado Springs after a successful Making Disciples in Benet Lake, Wisconsin, but Fr Mike and Sherry are still on the road doing Called and Gifted teacher training at St. Isidore’s parish in Bloomingdale, Illinois.

There were a number of things worth looking at that came through this week: 

First, the Pope touched on evangelization during his weekly audience in which he discussed the Irish monk St Columbanus. The Pope summarized his address saying: 

"St. Columbanus' message focuses on a powerful call to conversion and detachment from worldly goods, with a view to the eternal reward. With his ascetic life and his uncompromising attitude to the corruption of the powerful, he evokes the severe figure of John the Baptist. Yet his austerity ... was only a means to open himself freely to the love of God and to respond with his entire being to the gifts received from Him, reconstructing the image of God in himself, and at the same time ploughing the earth and renewing human society".

"A man of great culture and rich in gifts of grace, both as a tireless builder of monasteries and as an uncompromising penitential preacher", the Pope concluded, Columbanus "spent all his energies to nourish the Christian roots of the nascent Europe. With his spiritual strength, with his faith, with his love of God and neighbour, he became one of the Fathers of Europe, showing us today the way to those roots from which our continent may be reborn".

The complete text is here. 

Also, Zenit had an interesting piece up about the Order of the Sisters of Adoration, Slaves of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity and their work with women trapped in prostitution or who are victims of other forms of trafficking and exploitation. They are not only doing some very interesting outreach and mission work on the front lines of one of our greatest social evils, but they are finding their energy for this work in the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, they say that "they find the same God in the Blessed Sacrament that they see in the girls with whom they work -- young women rescued from the prostitution trade." 

The full article is here. 

In preparation for the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops this fall, a working document entitled "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church" has been prepared and presented by the synod secretary. The secretary said that they synod 

"should foster knowledge and love of the word of God which is living, effective and penetrating, in order to rediscover the infinite goodness of God who reveals himself to man as friend, encounters him and invites him to communion."

"Moreover," he added, "through the word of God, there is the hope of reinforcing the ecclesial community, fomenting the universal vocation to salvation, reinforcing the mission to those who are close and those far away, renewing imaginative charity, and attempting to contribute to the search for solutions to the many problems of contemporary man, who is hungry both for bread as well as for every word that comes from the mouth of God."

It will be great to see what comes out of the synod. The complete story and link to the document is at Zenit.

Finally, the folks preparing for World Youth Day in Sydney have started a social networking site along the lines of Facebook so that the energy and friendships coming out of World Youth Day can be continued in cyberspace once the festivities down under are over. I imagine this will lead to some remarkable connectivity and friendship between young Catholics from all over the world well after the lights have gone out on WYD 2008. The site is Xt3.com. By the way, there are just 32 days to go before the festivities begin. 

Our Sorrowful Mother's Ministry

My name is Joe Waters and I am the summer intern here at the Catherine of Siena Institute. I am a Masters of Divinity student at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina and my work with the Institute this summer is in partial fulfillment of the pastoral field education requirement for my degree. One thing I hope to do this summer is profile a number of exciting lay initiatives that we have discovered through our work across the country. 

The first such initiative that I wish to profile is Our Sorrowful Mother’s Ministry in Vandalia, Illinois. OSMM was founded in the late nineties by two laywomen, Debbie Pryor and Vanessa Keck, who decided to host a conference in their small town of 6,000 people after a rather disappointing trip to a Catholic conference in Chicago. The conference was initiated for the evangelization of their parish, but with little support from their parish or the wider community they successfully relied on registration fees from participants to fund the conference. And it worked! Since that first conference (1997) they have put on ten large conferences with nationally and internationally known speakers. Though they have shifted the focus of their ministry to healing and reconciliation they continue to have a large conference every year in the late fall and now have monthly healing retreats as well. These retreats are always led by at least two priests and feature daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, the sacrament of penance, time for private prayer, spiritual direction with certified spiritual directors, and healing prayer. The retreats cover fascinating topics such as “Deep Healing in the Ocean of God’s Mercy,” “Inner Healing through Our Lady of Reconciliation,” and “Healing the Heart’s Wounds.” They now have two houses, one of which is used by priests and religious, and by the initiative of the Bishop of Springfield the Blessed Sacrament in reserved in OSMM’s chapel. 

Having spoken on the phone recently with both Debbie and Vanessa their commitment to the Lord and the Church deeply impressed me. Both of them are intentional disciples who went through tremendous conversion experiences that set them on this path of reaching out to the suffering and wounded. Our world is in great need of healing and reconciliation, and it is beautiful to find lay apostles dedicated to bringing the Gospel’s message of healing, reconciliation, and mercy to the world. 

Evangelization a Mandate, not a Choice

I came across an abbreviated report of a conference held in Rome at the end of January and beginning of February. Given the findings of the recent Pew Foundation report on the number of former Catholics in this country, it seems like a timely article. Here's the majority of the short article:

If a parish does not evangelize, it is nothing more than a building, said a Vatican official, who offered four practical steps for transforming a parish into a missionary center.

Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, affirmed this at the end of January at a conference in Rome on "The Parish and the New Evangelization."

"Why should a parish be missionary," Archbishop Ranjith asked.

He explained that God's call of love mandates a missionary character for Christians: "Jesus loved his brothers and sisters to the extent that he was dedicated totally to their salvation -- this is the basis of evangelization."

The archbishop, who led the Diocese of Ratnapura, Sri Lanka, before being named to the Roman Curia, called evangelization a "sign of the maturity of our faith."

"The Church exists only if it evangelizes, and the same is true for the parish. If a parish does not evangelize, it is only a building," he said. “Evangelization is not a matter of free choice. It is an obligation of our faith, the perfect expression of our charity."

Eucharist-centered

Archbishop Ranjith highlighted the importance of the Eucharist for a parish focused on the mission.

"The Eucharist is at the center of evangelization," the archbishop affirmed. "The Eucharist must generate faith. In some parishes it is celebrated in such a manner that it does not generate faith."

The 60-year-old prelate also focused on the role of parish priests. He said that priests should understand their role by saying, "'I am useless by myself but useful in his hands.'"

Archbishop Ranjith also contended that parishes should not focus on their community alone, but "make a determined effort to reach the lost ones."

Hints

He offered some "practical steps" for giving parishes a missionary character.

"The parish community must move away from a maintenance model to a missionary model -- if the only thing we do is repair the buildings, this will kill us spiritually," the archbishop said.

Secondly, he continued, parishes need "to move away from a spirit of pessimism to a spirit of optimism." And he noted the danger of becoming the Gospel's example of a "lazy servant."

The third practical step dealt with the role of laypeople. Archbishop Ranjith encouraged priests who still think the “mission is the sole responsibility of clerics," and that "priests should decide everything by themselves" to "share with the laity."

“Each layperson is a potential missionary," he affirmed.

The fourth step was related to the third. The archbishop encouraged involving as many people as possible: "associations, groups, men, women, youth and even children -- and be courageous to go into uncharted areas, look for new methods and means."

The Church: Lean and Mean, Big and Messy, or Huge and Holy?

The Gospel for today issues a challenge to us - as always. It's Luke's version of the rejection of Jesus as a prophet by the people of his own hometown, Nazareth. The crowd turns on him pretty dramatically after Luke mentions that "all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth" (Lk 4:22).

Several commentators I read this morning indicate that the turn of events hinges on the stories that Jesus tells in this pericope. In both cases, prophets of God are sent to minister to Gentiles, even though the need for the same ministry among the chosen people was great. Jesus identifies himself as a prophet who will reach beyond the religious boundaries of Judaism. This incensed a people who felt that they were the chosen of God, and who though of Gentiles, as one commentator quoted, as being "created as fuel for the fires of hell."

I mention this because I have read and heard of Catholics who long for a smaller, holier Church. They look at the exodus of Europeans from their parishes in the wake of growing secularism, and basically say, "good riddance." And while Jesus advises his disciples to shake the dust of towns that reject the the apostles and Gospel from their sandals (Lk 9:5), he also tells parables of God seeking out the lost (Lk 15).

The Church exists to evangelize, according to Pope Paul VI

Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ's sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of His death and glorious resurrection. (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14)

If people leave the Church in the wake of advancing secularism - or for whatever reason - we dare not simply accept that situation. I can not reconcile the command to love my neighbor and the willingness to let them leave the embrace of the Church. The temptation is to convince myself that they have knowingly rejected the Gospel, when, in fact, they may never have been fully evangelized in the first place.

For the Church, evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new: "Now I am making the whole of creation new." But there is no new humanity if there are not first of all new persons renewed by Baptism and by lives lived according to the Gospel. The purpose of evangelization is therefore precisely this interior change... (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 18)

The questions that each of us must ask ourselves is, "have I undergone such a conversion?" As parishes, we must ask ourselves, "do we reflect the kind of transformed life that is itself a sign of transformation and new life?" (E.V., 23) The proof of my having been evangelized is that I now desire to share the good news I have received with others. This makes perfect sense. I remember the summer day in 1977 when I learned I had been accepted as a member of the McDonald's All-American marching band. It meant I had free trips to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, along with opportunities to make great music, meet kids from all over the country, and get to do some great sightseeing in those three cities. I had opened the letter from the McDonald's corporation fully expecting a rejection. In fact, I had even forgotten auditioning by tape some eight months previously. I couldn't wait to tell someone - anyone - and I was home alone, and it seemed that all my friends were away from their homes. It was a good hour or more before I could share my "good news," and I thought I was going to explode!

Pope Paul VI put it this way,

Finally, the person who has been evangelized goes on to evangelize others. Here lies the test of truth, the touchstone of evangelization: it is unthinkable that a person should accept the Word and give himself to the kingdom without becoming a person who bears witness to it and proclaims it in his turn.

I believe we have to take evangelization and conversion much more seriously - beginning with our own deepening conversion to the Lord. As a friend of mine is fond of saying these days, "What - or who - is your God?" The more I focus my life on Jesus, God incarnate, and seek to worship Him alone, the more His grace will transform me and prepare me to evangelize with my life and my words. God's desire for His Church, I believe, is that it be both huge (even universal) and holy - a spotless bride.

Six Degrees of Separation

It's great to see the power of the charisms, technology and personal relationships converge and form a new apostolate. Friend of the Siena Institute, Joanne Wakim, has launched a new nonprofit, Catholic Global Impact (CGI). CGI makes the six degrees of separation between the world's 1 billion Catholics an asset in being agents of God's transforming love. Check them out!

Revisiting the Spiral of Silence

Sherry wrote a few days ago about the Spiral of Silence, a communications theory postulated by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann over 25 years ago. As Sherry succinctly described it, "Neuman's idea is that most people have an intuitive awareness of the majority sentiment within a group, and most are less likely to speak up when they find themselves in the minority. The silencing effect thus reinforces itself: if a 40% minority does only 20% of the talking, they perceive themselves to be even more outnumbered than they truly are and are thus even less inclined to speak. Hence, the spiral into silence.

Neuman found that individuals avoid speaking out on controversial issues due to an innate fear of social isolation."

I believe part of the point Sherry was making was missed. What is sometimes proposed as a Catholic way of living the faith without talking about it may actually be a response to the clearly secular nature of contemporary American culture. In many popular television shows Christianity is often trivialized (think "South Park"), or Catholics are depicted as ignorant and superstitious (e.g., "Dogma"). That is part of the "opinion expressed as dominant by the media." I won't even go into the sound-byte treatment of magisterial pronouncements in the secular press. The media in our country fosters a culture of silence among Catholics.

But while poll after poll indicate 95% or more of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, our contemporary misunderstanding of the Jeffersonian idea of the separation of Church and State tends to marginalize religious conversations even more. Stephen L. Carter, a law professor at Yale wrote, "The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion," and advanced the thesis that American law and politics "trivialize" religion by forcing the religiously faithful to subordinate their personal views to a public faith largely devoid of religion. Carter cogently argues that religious beliefs are marginalized in our society and political stances founded on faith treated as invalid. This adds further pressure upon the believer to keep his or her mouth shut.

Contributors at ID are sometimes accused of being "Protestant" or too focused upon talking about faith, rather than living it, or focusing on subjective feelings rather than sacramental reality. I would propose that talking about one's relationship with Jesus, along with participating in the sacramental life of the Church, personal prayer, and performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, are all essential elements of the Church's communio.

Fr. Robert Barron, a priest from the Archdiocese of Chicago who teaches theology at Our Lady of the Lake University, describes communio as being like a rose window in a cathedral, "a wheel of light and color, all of whose elements are focused around a center that is invariably a depiction of Christ…it is a symbol of the well-ordered psyche, the well-ordered city, the well-ordered cosmos…Jesus preaches this communio message when he says, 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and the rest will be given unto you.' In other words, find the center, and the periphery will tend to fall into place around it."

If Christ is the center of our life and the object of our love, it would be unusual for him to not crop up in our conversations from time to time. I talk about the people I love with others. I am terrible at keeping really good news I've received to myself. And if we are indeed living our faith and becoming more and more like him, then "through this wordless witness" we will "stir up irresistible questions in the hearts of those who see how [we] live: Why are they like this? Why do they live in this way? What or who is it that inspires them? Why are they in our midst?" Pope Paul VI said, "Such a witness is already a silent proclamation of the Good News and a very powerful and effective one. Here we have an initial act of evangelization." [Evangelii Nuntiandi, 21]

But as the Pope explained, "There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God are not proclaimed. The history of the Church, from the discourse of Peter on the morning of Pentecost onwards, has been intermingled and identified with the history of this proclamation." [EN, 22]

St. Paul certainly talked about Jesus, and was filled with a sense of urgency over the importance of that proclamation. "But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring (the) good news!'" Rom 10:14-15

The spiral of silence may explain why we may tend to not talk about our faith. Talk is cheap, but a life lived in such a way that it doesn't make sense unless God exists is bound to generate curiosity - and plenty of opportunities to give the reason behind our behavior.

But the same dynamics that prevent one from speaking against a perceived majority perspective also tend to prevent one from acting in a way perceived as strange – and Christianity is the strangest Way. So it should not be surprising that a recent survey from the Barna Group on Christians in America indicated virtually no difference in worldview and behavior from that of non-Christians.

Pope Benedict XVI's Message to Youth

This weekend Pope Benedict XVI is in Loreto, Italy, meeting with Italian bishops, priests and thousands of Italian youth during the unveiling of a three-year pastoral plan for the youth of that country. (N.B. "Youth" in Europe usually refers to 18-35 year olds - what we in America would call young adults.)

In his homily yesterday, on "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted," Luke 14:11, the Pope urged the youth, "Do not follow the current produced by this powerful attempt at persuasion. Do not be afraid, dear friends, to prefer the 'alternative' ways indicated by true love: a sober way of life attentive to others; affectionate relationships that are sincere and pure; an honest commitment in study and work; deep interest in the common good.”

The Pope encouraged them to not be afraid "to appear different and be criticized for that which might seem foolish or unfashionable."

"Your fellow young people, but also adults and especially those who seem the farthest from the mentality and values of the Gospel, have a profound need to see someone who dares to live according to the fullness of humanity manifested in Jesus Christ," he said.

"The way of humility, dear friends, is therefore not the way of renunciation but of courage,” Benedict XVI emphasized. "It is not the result of a defeat but the outcome of a victory of love over egoism and of grace over sin."

Notice this humility is about forgetting oneself in order to evangelize! The Pope is telling Italian young adults to live in such a way that is fully human, and thus in imitation of Jesus. Such a life will undoubtedly look different from what most of us are pursuing, and the sense of dignity, purpose, direction and meaning that it gives will be incredibly attractive to those who are seeking those things.

The mission of evangelization was on the mind of many at the meeting, apparently. In an interview given by Monsignor Paolo Giulietti, head of National Service for Youth Pastoral Ministry at the Italian bishops conference, to the news service Fides, Giuletti responded to a question regarding whether youth are willing to share their faith with others. His response is beautiful and challenging.

"Mission is not something to do, it is more a way of being: Communicating with word and deed the beauty, the greatness of the experience of an encounter with Christ who makes life new. It is possible to kindle missionary impulse if we help young people to view their ordinary life with new eyes and to live it in an “extraordinary” manner. Naturally it is necessary to rethink the words and ways to speak of this at work, at school, at leisure time … for witness to be effective. The problem of little missionary spirit is due too often to dis-incarnated formation and spirituality."

What does the monsignor mean by a "dis-incarnated formation and spirituality"? I would suggest he means formation and spirituality that is essentially a "head trip." Perhaps a formation that focuses solely on the intellectual assent to faith, and a spirituality that is not centered on the sacraments and the need to embody Christ's love for others. Perhaps it is a spirituality that focuses on receiving grace for oneself, or experiencing consolation, or focused on a relationship with Christ that somehow does not impel the Christian outward in service. A dis-incarnated spirituality would contradict St. Paul's experience, when he wrote, "the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."

In other words, a genuine Christian formation and spirituality that is centered on the incarnation flows from the conviction that Christ has saved us through his loving obedience to the Father and through his love for us - both of which led him to accept the cross on our behalf. When we truly grasp the depth of that love (not just "for us," but "for me"), we can more easily choose to love and live selflessly for others. Or, in other words, to live, "not I, but Christ living in me."

I would propose that the deeper root of the problem of little missionary spirit is the lack of an appreciation of the love that is offered us by the Blessed Trinity. Those who do experience and appreciate that love are natural (or, better, supernaturally empowered) evangelizers.

Am I Evangelized?

In response to a previous post on John Allen's observation that the last two popes have had an evangelical focus, one former Evangelical Protestant (now Catholic), asked me the elements of Catholic evangelization. I responded with some key points from Pope Paul VI's 1975 Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi (On Evangelization in the Modern World) [linked in the title of this post]. What hit me as I re-read that great teaching on evangelization was the question, "Have I been fully evangelized?"

That may sound like a peculiar question for a priest to ask, but let me briefly summarize a few points that Paul VI made.

For starters, the Holy Father wrote, "It [evangelization] is a task and mission which the vast and profound changes of present-day society make all the more urgent. Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to
preach and teach,
to be the channel of the gift of grace,
to reconcile sinners with God, and
to perpetuate Christ's sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of His death and glorious resurrection." [14]

That much most Catholics would not take exception with, I'm guessing. It seems to be much of what happens within our parishes. But, Paul also pointed out,

"She [the Church after the Lord's ascension] remains as a sign—simultaneously obscure and luminous—of a new presence of Jesus, of His departure and of His permanent presence. She prolongs and continues Him. And it is above all His mission and His condition of being an evangelizer that she is called upon to continue. For the Christian community is never closed in upon itself." [15]

This is our challenge today, and always. Because our reaching out to the world is not simply to do good works, like establish hospitals and schools, run soup kitchens and homeless shelters, or work to promote good stewardship of the environment, or oppose abortion and promote child welfare. The Po