www.malankaralibrary.com A CATHOLIC RESPONSE TO THE CALL OF NEW EVANGELIZATION Dr. Mathew Charthakuzhiyil Foreword by Donald Cardinal Wuerl SOPHIA BOOKS Malapparamba, Kozhikode, Kerala-673009 Ph: 0495 2373077, 9995574308 www.sophiabuy.com www.malankaralibrary.com A CATHOLIC RESPONSE TO THE CALL OF NEW EVANGELIZATION (English) Author: Dr. Mathew Charthakuzhiyil First Edition: October 2017 Publishing & Distribution: Sophia Books, Malaparamba, Kozhikode, Kerala - 673 009. Printed at: Anaswara Offset Pvt. Ltd, Ernakulam Cover Design & Layout : Abraham Thomas Price: `150/- Out of India: $6, £4 ISBN - 978-93-84884-60-4 No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publishers. © Sophia Printers & Publishers (P) Ltd. SB- 225 | IE 1000 | October 2017 www.malankaralibrary.com Table of Contents Introduction 13 Chapter 1 17 Mission and Missionary Activity Chapter 2 20 What is Evangelization? Chapter 3 23 The Need for Evangelization Chapter 4 26 The Agents of Evangelization Chapter 5 30 The Methods of Evangelization Chapter 6 36 The Goals of Evangelization Chapter 7 41 Evangelization and Catechesis Chapter 8 43 Who Should Be Evangelized? Chapter 9 48 The Content of Evangelization Chapter 10 52 Obstacles to Evangelization Chapter 11 56 What Is New Evangelization? Chapter 12 60 The Pontifical ouncilC for the Promotion of New Evangelization www.malankaralibrary.com Chapter 13 62 Synod on the New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith Chapter 14 64 Pope Francis and New Evangelization Chapter 15 69 The New Evangelization: The Catholic Response Chapter 16 71 What Is Catholic Modernity? Chapter 17 75 The Proper Relationship of Modernity and Christianity Chapter 18 77 Matteo Ricci and The Riccian Model A. Life of Matteo Ricci B. The Riccian Model C. Further Clarification on the Riccian Model Chapter 19 85 George Marsden and the Prodigal Metaphor Conclusion 88 Notes 91 Bibliography 107 www.malankaralibrary.com 25 July 2017 Message Lord Jesus Christ, before ascending to heaven entrusted the disciples the mission of witnessing to the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The Church faithfully continues this God-given mandate for the last two thousand years. But at the same time, she is aware that “the number of those awaiting Christ is still immense… (and) the whole Church is even more committed to a new missionary advent” (Redemptoris Missio 86). Our missionary commitment is an indispensable ingredient of our faith life. Evangelization is our sharing of the love of Christ after we personally experience it. We cannot give something that we don’t have and our “faith is strengthened when it is given to others!” (Redemptoris Missio 2). The more we experience the love of Christ, the more we want to share it with others. The more we speak with Christ, the more we want to speak about Him. The more we are won over by Christ, the more we want to draw others to Him. (Cf. Pope Benedict XVI, World Youth Day Message, 2013). The recent call of the Church for new evangelization is intended to bring everyone to have a personal relationship and an encounter with the living Christ. It is also a sign of great hope that the Church is going through an era of new missionary age with her renewed commitment to evangelization. This responsibility of spreading the love of Christ by witnessing to an authentic Christian life is given to every baptized Christian. For this we must use all the available means at our disposal. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminds us that www.malankaralibrary.com “the immense horizons of the Church’s mission and the complexity of today’s situation call for new ways of effectively communicating the Word of God” (Verbum Domini 97). Holy Father Pope Francis, in continuation with his predecessors’ teachings underlines that witness of life is the best means of evangelization: “Faith is God’s gift and not the result of proselytizing; rather it grows thanks to the faith and charity of evangelizers who witness to Christ…We proclaim the most beautiful and greatest gifts that he has given us: His life and His love” (Message for World Mission Day, 2016). Doctrinal clarity is not only indispensible for the effective dis- semination of the gospel but also for all our pastoral activities. Because of the ‘influxof opinions’ many seem to be wavering on matters related to the teachings of the Church. In the present day society material prosperity is creating a vacuum in the life of the people with so much spiritual poverty. People are replacing God with many other created things. In his book A Catholic Response to the Call of New Evangeliza- tion, Rev. Dr. Mathew Charthakuzhiyil is trying to explain the recent teachings of the Church in this area. His work will definitelyhelp the teachers, students and missionaries to deepen their knowledge in the area of evangelization in order to generously put their talents in the service of the proclamation of the Gospel. This book helps us to realize that evangelization is not an isolated individual act but an ecclesial endeavor. I am sure that reading of the book would increase our apostolic zeal to pass on to others the light and joy of the faith we all have received freely from God. I whole heartedly congratulate Rev. Dr. Mathew Charthakuzhiyil for his priestly com- mitment in the field of new evangelization. May this book be an inspiration for many to deepen their Christian ministry ! + Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Major Archbishop- Catholicos & President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. www.malankaralibrary.com Fr. Mathew Charthakuzhiyil Fr. Mathew Charthakuzhiyil is a priest of the Major Archdio- cese of Trivandrum in the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He had his priestly training at St. Mary’s Malankara Major Seminary, Nalanchira, Trivandrum and was ordained a priest in 1997. He earned a Masters in English Literature from Oakland University, Rochester Hills, USA and a Licentiate in the New Evangelization from Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, USA. He obtained a Doctorate in Theology from St. Thomas Aquinas Pontifical Uni- versity (Angelicum), Rome. He also had attended English courses at Oxford University, England. www.malankaralibrary.com www.malankaralibrary.com Foreword For more than fifty years, since Pope Paul VI, first outlined a vision for how the Church would carry out its mission in the mod- ern world, evangelization has been a more pronounced part of the Church’s vocabulary. At the Synod for the New Evangelization which took place in Rome, in 2012, the task of evangelization was understood in three aspects. “First, evangelization ad gentes is the announcement of the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ. Secondly, it also includes the continuing growth in faith that is the ordinary life of the Church. Finally, the New Evangelization is directed especially to those who have become distant from the Church” (Proposition 7: New Evangelization as a Permanent Mis- sionary Dimension of the Church). The members of the Church, alive in faith and love, are always doing the work of the New Evangelization. Yet the word evangelization and its meaning for Catholics is still not as well understood as it needs to be. Dr. Charthakuzhiyil draws out the development of the Catholic character of evangelization by looking at the methods and goals of the mission of the New Evangelization and its meaning, in par- ticular, in the context of a non-Western, non-Christian and increas- ingly secularized culture. Rather than presenting this context as an obstacle to missionary activity, Dr. Charthakuzhiyil suggests that responding to the call of the New Evangelization impels all of us to discover fresh resources, to open original avenues, and to summon new strength to advance the Good News of the Lord. The New Evangelization, as does all evangelizaiton, begins with the experience of Jesus Christ. Everything the Church is, she www.malankaralibrary.com has received from Christ. The Gospel is the announcement of the “good message,” or “Good News” that Jesus is God’s Son and our Savior. Jesus, through the Paschal Mystery, his passion, death and glorious Resurrection, has freed us from the power of sin and saved us from death. The Church received from her Lord not only the tremendous grace he has won for us, but also the commission to share and make known his victory. We are summoned to transmit faithfully the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. The opportunities to do this are everywhere. Dr. Charthakuzhiyil chooses the great Jesuit missionary, Fr. Matteo Ricci, as an example of an evangelizer who, in the face of a culture foreign to him and largely ignorant of Christianity, began by developing friendships with his Chinese neighbors, learning their language and culture, and then building a bridge between that and the story of Jesus Christ. The Gospel offers us a whole new way of seeing life and the world around us. We recognize that we cannot impose this Good News of the gratuitous love of God, but at the same time we must not underestimate the attractiveness of the witness of the Christian life. For the firstdisciples who encountered the Risen Christ, life was never the same. The same is true for us, as Jesus’ disciples in today’s world. As agents of the New Evangelization, we are called to renew and deepen our faith, grow in confidencein its truth, and joyfully share it with others. As every Pope who has served the Church since the close of the Second Vatican Council has emphasized, the New Evangelization presents a graced moment in the life of the Church, a new Pente- cost.