In order to carry out the New Evangelization, lay men and women must “blow the dynamite” of the Catholic Church. This Year of Faith finds the lay faithful devising new ways to carry the explosive, powerful message of Jesus Christ into the very heart of the secular world.
Peter Maurin (1877-1949), a Catholic thinker and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, captured the idea of the laity unleashing the transformative power of the Gospel on society in one of his Easy Essays:
If the Catholic Church is not today the dominant social, dynamic force, it is because Catholic scholars have failed to blow the dynamite of the Church. Catholic scholars have taken the dynamite of the Church, have wrapped it up in nice phraseology, placed it in an hermetic container; and sat on the lid. It is about time to blow the lid off so the Catholic Church may again become the dominant social dynamic force.
Maurin’s words resonate with Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput as a metaphor for the New Evangelization.
“Nothing ‘blows the dynamite of the Church’ more than heroic generosity on the part of married couples and lay faithful,” Chaput tells Lay Witness. “The Church is mostly lay people, so the springtime that Pope John Paul II dreamed about has to be the result of living the Gospel.”
The pontificates of Bl. John Paul II and Benedict XVI did the hard work of establishing the authentic keys to interpreting the Second Vatican Council. Benedict’s preaching of the “hermeneutic of continuity”—that Catholics must interpret the Council documents as a restatement of (not a break with) the Church’s two millennia of Tradition—paved the way for the lay faithful to look at the Council with confidence and renewed interest in what the Church expects of them.
The Council gives a bold vision for the lay faithful. The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem, states: “The laity must take up the renewal of the temporal order as their own special obligation”(emphasis added).
The Council makes clear the lay faithful not only are necessary to their Church communities, but also vital to the apostolate of their pastors. With their apostolic zeal, the laity “refresh the spirit of pastors and of the rest of the faithful.”
Catholics have spoken often of the New Evangelization since John Paul II coined the term. A few years ago, Benedict XVI even approved a new Pontifical Council on the New Evangelization. All well and good, but even Pope Francis recognizes the tendency of Catholics to overthink their teaching (Maurin today might describe this as wrapping up the New Evangelization in “nice phraseology” and sealing it away in a “hermetic container” of bureaucratic institutionalism, so it becomes the responsibility of “someone else”).
“A Church that does not go out of itself, sooner or later, sickens from the stale air of closed rooms,” Pope Francis wrote his brother bishops from Latin America. In his own straightforward way, Francis has made it clear: don’t just talk about the New Evangelization, don’t wait for the bishop or priest to lead or give permission for the New Evangelization, just act on the grace of Baptism and do the New Evangelization. And have the humility to make mistakes along the way. Francis said: “I prefer a thousand times over a Church of accidents than a sick Church.”
The Church needs the lay faithful as entrepreneurs who will seek to find many different ways to “blow the dynamite” of the Gospel, and remake society in Jesus Christ. Chaput points out that the New Evangelization calls for an evangelization “new in its ardor, its methods, and its expression, but also its agents”, the lay faithful, who can take the Apostles and early Christians as their model.
“When you look at the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the evangelization of the Church was done by the laity as well as by clergy,” Archbishop Chaput says. “Paul had the good company of Aquila and Priscilla, a married couple who were tent makers along with him.”
Building a Catholic Community Inside and Outside the Parish
The parish provides a natural community hub for Catholics, where they can create a vibrant community with an outlook of evangelization. An absence of activity in parish life may provide just the right opportunity for lay faithful to step forward as leaders and build that community with a Bible study, a couple’s evening, a Church dance, concerts, movie nights, or young adult socials. Blessed Sacrament Parish, a parish run by the Dominicans in Seattle’s University District, has made itself a center of community and evangelistic outreach through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
Nina Butorac, Director of Outreach, says that Blessed Sacrament’s pastor, Fr. Daniel Syverstad, O.P., called for the laity to help the Dominicans make the parish a “center of evangelization.” As a result, parish attendance has more than doubled in size over ten years. “It’s created a very dynamic parish. People are attracted here,” Butorac says.
Throughout the month, you’ll find a packed calendar at Blessed Sacrament with meetings of Communion and Liberation, Bible Study, New Moms prayer and support group, Latin class, pro-life meetings, a Vatican II education series, St. Vincent de Paul Society Food Bank, Legion of Mary, young adult discussion groups and formation events for watching and discussing movies with Catholic themes, among other activities.
In Rochester, New York, the St. Ireneaus Ministries offers another model of living Catholic community in a way that complements parish life. Founded by Catholic convert and former pastor David Higbee, the St. Ireneaus Ministries and its Center have a strong mission objective: to form individuals through discipleship who will in turn create a community that evangelizes others by their compelling witness. “We’ve got exactly what’s needed. Our one resource is an encounter with Jesus Christ,” Higbee says.
At the St. Ireneaus Center, adults and young adults can take classes in Biblical Greek, Early Church and Biblical History, and the Church Fathers, find spiritual counseling, a place to pray together, and engage in fellowship over breakfast. Higbee describes it as a center of community, which flows back into the parish life. And the fruits of Ireneaus are new marriages, stronger marriages, and religious and priestly vocations that are building up the local Church.
Rediscover: Facebook, Twitter, Apps and More
Social media has the power to connect millions upon millions with the Gospel. Like the Gospel, the success of social media, which Benedict XVI described as the new “agora” of the 21st century, depends on sharing. Pope Francis tweets the Gospel in 140 characters, nearly everyday, and people can access tweets through Twitter or even text message. Consider this: there are 6 billion cell phones in the world, and more than 1 billion smart phones. Every one of them is a potential recipient of the Gospel.
The Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul has recently encouraged the lay faithful to spread the Gospel in the digital age by Facebook, Twitter, apps, and any social media they use to interact with others with an educational initiative called “Rediscover.”
Rediscover features a beautiful professional website that invites Catholics to “rediscover” the riches of their faith and answers to deep and profound questions, and learn how to be an authentic disciple of Christ. Apps for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets make the resources (writings, videos, radio, audio) instantly accessible.
“We’ve tried to make the resources of Rediscover more approachable, so we can reach people more authentically and very effectively,” Sarah Mealy, Communications Director for the Archdiocese, tells Lay Witness. She explains that they’ve also developed a simple way for all lay faithful (who may not feel able to answer adequately some questions about the Faith) to share “Rediscover” with friends, family, and others through “Rediscover share cards.” The share cards are business cards with information about Rediscover, and a printed QR-code that a smartphone can scan to bring them right to Rediscover. But share cards are not the twenty-first century version of handing out tracts.
“It connects people that you know and meet, with the resources of Rediscover,” says Mealy. “It makes sharing the faith more approachable and less intimidating.”
Mealy says the Archdiocese is negotating with a firm that wants to take the Rediscover model national.
Catholic Theater of the Word
Spreading the New Evangelization doesn’t just mean proclaiming truth—it needs evangelists who can smuggle the Gospel into hearts through beauty. Books educate the mind, but the arts educate the heart and the imagination.
“You’re not going to remember the books; the arts have the longevity,” says Leonardo DeFillipis, a Catholic actor and director who has pioneered stage productions of the Gospel and Catholic saints for a modern audience—not just Catholics. He explained that theatre engages all the senses of the audience, and the “incarnational aspect” gives it more power than a medium like film.
“Which is more powerful: seeing Jesus live, right in front of you, or seeing Him on film or just hearing Him through the radio?” he continues. “When people see a live Christ, they really feel the impact of that moment. Jesus is really alive, not just there on a film.”
DeFillipis and his wife Patti started St. Luke Productions more than 30 years ago working out of their van, starting with one-man plays telling the Gospel of Luke at parishes all over Washington state, and raising their family at the same time. Today St. Luke Productions has nine live professional drama productions touring the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
DeFillipis says Protestants have done a great job forming acting troupes and putting on theatrical performances to share their faith, and Catholics have lagged far behind. But lay Catholics have taken steps to change that. A new group called Faith Performances, based in Rochester, NY, has planned its first conference in July to encourage Catholic artists to embrace Christian theatre as a way of proclaiming and teaching the Gospel, and will kick-off the first Catholic Theatre Festival in 2014.
Catholic artists putting on theatrical performances in parishes and telling the Gospel help build the new civilization that the New Evangelization calls for. “Civilization is not done instantaneously. If you want good civilization you have to create the things within it that foster imagination and creativity,” DeFillipis says.
The Most Exciting Time in 1700 Years
Giving their time, talents, and energies to the New Evangelization, the lay faithful, with love for Jesus Christ, continue to find new opportunities to “blow the dynamite” of the Church in the secular world. David Higbee believes the New Evangelization is “the most exciting time in the Church in 1700 years” and that every Catholic man and woman must “be alive to the possibilities” of what he and she can accomplish for the New Evangelization.
“As we proclaim simply Christ—and Him crucified— we are going to see that we draw many, many more people to Him,” Higbee says. “And if transformation of this man and this woman in Christ is what we want, even if it takes a number of years, we will see such success as will amaze even us.”
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