Why do we need the “new evangelization” insistently called for by every pope since the Second Vatican Council? For the sake of the “new springtime” they have all referred to: one capable of transforming a world so desperately in need of hope and healing. As Pope Benedict pointed out during his April 19 homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York: “The proclamation of life, life in abundance, must be the heart of the new evangelization… This is the message of hope we are called to proclaim and embody in a world where self-centeredness, greed, violence, and cynicism so often seem to choke the fragile growth of grace in people’s hearts.”
Clearly we face some challenges in bringing this message of life in abundance to “a society where the church seems legalistic and ‘institutional’ to many people.” The church’s “most urgent challenge is to communicate the joy born of faith and experience of God’s love,” he said.
If we are to foster the blossoming of Gospel values in places where Christ and Church are often not known nor loved — and at times even misunderstood and despised — we must diligently seek new ways of helping people see Christianity in all its beauty. As the Holy Father pointed out, we need to creatively help people see that the beauty of revealed truth, its true beauty and full meaning, and the splendor of the church of Christ are best understood from within. He himself used a creative image to explain this when reminding us that from the outside, a church’s stained glass windows appear obscure and incomprehensible, while from the inside of the church their true beauty is fully revealed. So it is with Christianity.
We must invite outsiders in! We must invite them to come closer and see for themselves (cf. Jn 1: 39, 46) and discover the truth and beauty of the Gospel. We must make the church known, appreciated and understood. But, the pope acknowledged, “This is no easy task in a world which can tend to look at the church, like those stained glass windows, “from the outside”: a world which deeply senses a need for spirituality, yet finds it difficult to “enter into” the mystery of the church. Even for those of us within, the light of faith can be dimmed by routine, and the splendor of the church obscured by the sins and weaknesses of her members. It can be dimmed too, by the obstacles encountered in a society which sometimes seems to have forgotten God and to resent even the most elementary demands of Christian morality.” Indeed, effectively communicating the joy and love of God is no easy task.
For this, we need power from on high, a power that is available to us if we but ask, for as the Holy Father says: “The word of God reminds us that, in faith, we see the heavens opened, and the grace of the Holy Spirit lighting up the church and bringing sure hope to our world. “O Lord, my God,” the Psalmist sings, “when you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.” (Ps 104:30) These words evoke the first creation… And they look forward to the new creation, at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and established the church as the first fruits of a redeemed humanity. (cf. Jn 20:22-23) These words summon us to ever deeper faith in God’s infinite power to transform every human situation, to create life from death, and to light up even the darkest night. And they make us think of another magnificent phrase of Saint Irenaeus: “where the church is, there is the spirit of God; where the spirit of God is, there is the church and all grace.” (Adv. Haer. III, 24, 1)
“So let us lift our gaze upward!”, he exclaimed, from where our aid will come.
The pope reminds us that only with the aid of the Holy Spirit can we experience what he called an “intellectual conversion,” which is necessary to be able to discern “the signs of the times, and our personal contribution to the church’s life and mission.” It is the spirit of God that works in us authentic interior renewal, and growth in holiness and in the “humility and purity of heart which are required to approach the splendor of God’s truth.” Then will we be able to share the good news as the spirit intends and as suggested in the pope’s exhortation: “In fidelity to the deposit of faith entrusted to the Apostles, let us be joyful witnesses of the transforming power of the Gospel!” The pope concluded his homily by calling on Catholics in America to “go forth as heralds of hope in the midst of this city, and all those places where God’s grace has placed us. In this way, the church in America will know a new springtime in the spirit, and point the way to that other, greater city, the new Jerusalem, whose light is the lamb. For there God is even now preparing for all people a banquet of unending joy and life.”
A personal Pentecost is absolutely necessary for the new evangelization and the new springtime to take place. We need the Holy Spirit alive and well in our lives and communities of faith. For the church and the world to have a profound encounter with the Lord Jesus we all need a deep infilling of “the Lord and giver of life,” the Holy Spirit, so that experiencing deep within our souls on a daily basis the presence, power and life of the Holy Spirit, we might in turn become bold and confident proclaimers of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, to the extent that we experience the Holy Spirit’s life within us, to that extent will this life-giving presence and power spill over into the lives of people around us, as we lovingly but boldly carry out an effective and renewed evangelization, like the first disciples.
The contrary is, to a large degree, true as well: no Pentecost, no evangelization; no evangelization, no springtime for the human spirit and for Christianity. No Pentecost; no power; no power; no proclamation; no proclamation, no growth, no deepening of Gospel values and no ability to bring about a Godlike outlook on human life and human relations. For, how can we effectively evangelize on our own power, without “power from on high” to give us the courage and love and words capable of touching another’s heart? But, thank God, the opposite is true! With Pentecost we have effective evangelization. And with effective evangelization we see the flowering of a new springtime for the good news which is meant to touch and transform the life of every human being created and loved by almighty God. Thanks to the first Pentecost and the early efforts of evangelization in the church we saw a blossoming of the Gospel and the spread of the church throughout the known world. We saw how men and women on fire with the Holy Spirit and in love with Christ and his church ran to tell others about the marvels Christ has done for us, making a lasting difference in the world.
The challenge is ours today. We need the same zeal. We need to continue to impact and transform our world. To do so, we need the same power: we need the Holy Spirit. We need a new Pentecost! This is why Pope Benedict XVI (and popes John Paul II and John XXIII) prayed for a new Pentecost: we need it! We need it to effectively carry out a new evangelization. And we need a new evangelization in order to see a new world order: a world ordered by the principles and the values and the grace and the plan of God for all His children on every continent and in every age. We need power from on high to effectively live and share the good news of Jesus Christ and thus produce lasting change in the world we live in.
We need to desire, pray for, dispose ourselves to welcome and actually welcome this fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives, in our families, in our parish communities and in the local church at large — for the sake of our own maturity and growth in discipleship, as well as for the sake of a world that needs desperately to hear and embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must each take our place in history as everyday evangelized evangelizers, consistently, systematically, unabashedly and lovingly living our faith fully and sharing the faith freely with others.
Then will we see that springtime of the human spirit and of Christianity of which Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessors spoke. Then will we see, not only a flourishing of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, knowledge, piety, courage, fortitude and fear of the Lord — and His other many gifts of service), but we will also see a flourishing of the fruits of the spirit in the lives, not only of Christians, but of people across the globe — the fruit of the spirit which our world so desperately needs: “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23)
So let us pray unceasingly with the universal church throughout the ages: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of thy love. Send forth thy Spirit, Lord, and thou shall renew the face of the earth.” Let us beg the Lord to increasingly bring about in our own day a new Pentecost that will enable us to effectively carry out the new evangelization that will result in a new springtime for the whole world.
For the full text of the Holy Father’s speeches in the United States, visit www.vatican.va and type in United States 2008. For the Holy Father’s speeches on new ecclesial movements and communities as a sign of a New Pentecost, refer to the book “New Outpourings of The Spirit.”