New Evangelization

The phrase “New Evangelization” was coined by Saint John Paul II to refer to the Church’s need to address the current crisis of faith in the western world. Because the overwhelming majority of baptized Christians no longer live authentic lives of faith he called us to evangelize them along with the unbaptized. This ‘new’ situation within Christianity does not necessitate a change in the Gospel message, but rather a change in how we are to approach the recipients of the message. Since they are already baptized our evangelization efforts need to focus on helping them return to a life of grace through a genuine encounter with God in Jesus Christ. Our job consists of finding new ways and means to awaken dormant faith and revive dead faith. To do this the Pope says new ‘ardor’ is needed on our part – we need fire!  Come Holy Spirit!