A Summary on Evangelii Nuntiandi 1975
Pope Paul VI on December 1975 wrote to the Episcopate, Clergy and to all the faithful of the entire world on evangelization in the modern world. In his introductory part he emphasized that ,the condition of the society in which we live oblige us to seek for a new method on how to bring the Gospel message to the modern man, he explained that evangelization is not an occasional or temporary task but a permanent and constitutive necessity of the church, he therefore, called on all (cleric and lay faithful) to meditate and re-evaluate the three pertinent questions; “in our days what has happened to that hidden energy of the Good News, which is able to have a powerful effect on man’s conscience?, To what extent and in what way is that evangelical force capable of really transforming the people of this century?, What method should be followed in order that the power of the Gospel may have its effect?.
The whole mission of Christ is summed up in the Gospel of Luke “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God”. With these he lived among the people to set the captives free, give sight to the blind among other miracles, as a visible component of his evangelizing activity.
To drive home his point he said “having been born out of being sent, the church in turn is sent by Christ… she perpetuates and continues Him and his message of salvation. It is above all his mission and his condition of being an evangelizer that she is called upon to continue”.
There are many understanding of the word evangelization in our contemporary world of today for some it is an activity whereby the Gospel is proclaimed and explained, in other to awaken the faith in non-Christians and foster in Christians the living faith. However Pope Paul entrusted to the synod the task of bringing the traditional concept of the work of evangelization face to face with the new trends, to meet up with the circumstances of the time.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church evangelization is the proclamation of Christ and his Gospel by world and the testimony of life in fulfillment of Christ’s command. As such the holy mother church in obedience to Christ and because it is demanded by her essential universality, continues to preach the good news to every generation and culture.
As the body of Christ the church exist to as the visible presence of Christ to continue his mission of reconciling the world to God, He explained thus; “solely through the power of the Gospel itself the church evangelizes when she seeks to convert the personal and collective consciences of people, the activities in which they engage their lives and their concrete situations”
He further explained that the purpose of evangelization is not just to cover a wide range, rather it is to bring about interior change that will affect the human race’s criteria of judgment, determining values, point of interest, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the word of God and the plan of salvation. According to him evangelization has a primary goal of conversion; the call to a new evangelization is primarily a call to conversion for both Catholics and non Catholics, for the Catholics it will be a deeper ongoing conversion in which they have a more profound life of faith and devotion and a greater awareness and hatred for their sins.
New evangelization for non Catholics or fallen Catholics will mean a new awakening of the graces they received at baptism or a desire to know and have a relationship with Christ.
In summation;
the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntandi spoke of evangelization in terms of the proclamation of the librating salvation,
The church is now aware from these document that she has to spread the word more effectively and zealously with the fact that evangelization is the church deepest identity.
The church exists in order to evangelize
The church is born of the evangelization of Christ and the Apostles
Christ is the evangelizer; he sends the church and the church continues his mission by continually sending out men and women into the world.
The church and her mission are inseparable from Christ and his mission.
Evangelization must take into consideration the people, their language, sign and symbol
The Holy Father is entrusted with the preeminent ministry of teaching the revealed truth
The Bishops and priests as teachers of faith received through their ordination the authority to teach the revealed truth
The Religious by their lives are sign of total availability to God, the church and the brethren
The Laity on their part must exercise a special form of evangelization, since they are involve in the daily social, political, economic life, they are to help in spreading the good news more
Fr Lawrence sdv.
Pope Paul VI on December 1975 wrote to the Episcopate, Clergy and to all the faithful of the entire world on evangelization in the modern world. In his introductory part he emphasized that ,the condition of the society in which we live oblige us to seek for a new method on how to bring the Gospel message to the modern man, he explained that evangelization is not an occasional or temporary task but a permanent and constitutive necessity of the church, he therefore, called on all (cleric and lay faithful) to meditate and re-evaluate the three pertinent questions; “in our days what has happened to that hidden energy of the Good News, which is able to have a powerful effect on man’s conscience?, To what extent and in what way is that evangelical force capable of really transforming the people of this century?, What method should be followed in order that the power of the Gospel may have its effect?.
The whole mission of Christ is summed up in the Gospel of Luke “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God”. With these he lived among the people to set the captives free, give sight to the blind among other miracles, as a visible component of his evangelizing activity.
To drive home his point he said “having been born out of being sent, the church in turn is sent by Christ… she perpetuates and continues Him and his message of salvation. It is above all his mission and his condition of being an evangelizer that she is called upon to continue”.
There are many understanding of the word evangelization in our contemporary world of today for some it is an activity whereby the Gospel is proclaimed and explained, in other to awaken the faith in non-Christians and foster in Christians the living faith. However Pope Paul entrusted to the synod the task of bringing the traditional concept of the work of evangelization face to face with the new trends, to meet up with the circumstances of the time.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church evangelization is the proclamation of Christ and his Gospel by world and the testimony of life in fulfillment of Christ’s command. As such the holy mother church in obedience to Christ and because it is demanded by her essential universality, continues to preach the good news to every generation and culture.
As the body of Christ the church exist to as the visible presence of Christ to continue his mission of reconciling the world to God, He explained thus; “solely through the power of the Gospel itself the church evangelizes when she seeks to convert the personal and collective consciences of people, the activities in which they engage their lives and their concrete situations”
He further explained that the purpose of evangelization is not just to cover a wide range, rather it is to bring about interior change that will affect the human race’s criteria of judgment, determining values, point of interest, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the word of God and the plan of salvation. According to him evangelization has a primary goal of conversion; the call to a new evangelization is primarily a call to conversion for both Catholics and non Catholics, for the Catholics it will be a deeper ongoing conversion in which they have a more profound life of faith and devotion and a greater awareness and hatred for their sins.
New evangelization for non Catholics or fallen Catholics will mean a new awakening of the graces they received at baptism or a desire to know and have a relationship with Christ.
In summation;
the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntandi spoke of evangelization in terms of the proclamation of the librating salvation,
The church is now aware from these document that she has to spread the word more effectively and zealously with the fact that evangelization is the church deepest identity.
The church exists in order to evangelize
The church is born of the evangelization of Christ and the Apostles
Christ is the evangelizer; he sends the church and the church continues his mission by continually sending out men and women into the world.
The church and her mission are inseparable from Christ and his mission.
Evangelization must take into consideration the people, their language, sign and symbol
The Holy Father is entrusted with the preeminent ministry of teaching the revealed truth
The Bishops and priests as teachers of faith received through their ordination the authority to teach the revealed truth
The Religious by their lives are sign of total availability to God, the church and the brethren
The Laity on their part must exercise a special form of evangelization, since they are involve in the daily social, political, economic life, they are to help in spreading the good news more
Fr Lawrence sdv.
Thanks, Fr. This summary is very very helpful.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Fr. This piece of work Is very helpful to me
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