Jesus’ final request of His closest followers was: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. The Good News shared with them was in turn to be shared with others. This message of Jesus has motivated Christians throughout the centuries to build up God’s kingdom on earth by sharing what has been given to them – namely, the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.
This "passing on" of the Good News, commonly called evangelization, is a duty of every follower of Christ. Pope Paul VI reminded the Catholic world of this focus in his 1975 encyclical, On Evangelization in the Modern World: "We wish to confirm once more that the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church" (n.14). He later adds, "The proclamation [of the Gospel] only reaches full development when it is listened to, accepted and assimilated, and when it arouses a genuine adherence in the one who has thus received it" (n.23).
Our previous pope, Blessed John Paul II, personally rose to this challenge first by living the Gospel message in his own life and then by bringing it to more than 100 nations around the globe. Recognizing the great need for evangelization in our day, he also often reminded Catholics to "proclaim the Good News on street corners and from the housetops" and to be ready to suffer for doing so, much as Jesus did for our benefit.
Pope Benedict XVI is now carrying the torch that his predecessor handed on to him, bearing a flame that burns with the power of the Holy Spirit to convert minds and hearts. Our Holy Father knows well that the message of Pope Paul VI in his encyclical On Evangelization still rings true today: "It must be said that the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of evangelization: it is He who impels each individual to proclaim the Gospel, and it is He who in the depths of consciences causes the word of salvation to be accepted and understood" (n.75).
Later this year, the pope will be gathering bishops and evangelization leaders from throughout the world to discuss how the Holy Spirit is guiding members of the Church to live and spread the Good News in our day. He recently created a new structure within the Vatican to explore ways to implement the "New Evangelization," a term that describes John Paul II’s emphasis on the personal and individual renewal within the members of Christ’s Church that must necessarily precede evangelization ad gentes—that is, "to the nations." The direction and emphasis of this new papal commission will be determined in large part by the fruits of this fall’s meeting.
We can participate vicariously in two ways. First, we can pray for the success of this important gathering. Second, we can and should continue to transform ourselves into the strongest possible Christians, of the sort that not only can explain and defend the Faith, but also of the sort that would be willing to die for it.
Developing such a character surely will be part and parcel to carrying out the New Evangelization that continues to take shape as its implications are studied in greater depth. May we all fire our faith with the Holy Spirit’s power that we might thus bear the fruits of successful evangelization in all aspects of our lives.
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