......
THE NEW EVANGELISATION IS....
...ABOUT FORMING A
'PROFOUND, DEEP, & LIVING
RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST LIVED AT
THE HEART OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'
RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST LIVED AT
THE HEART OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'
"Although hearing
about Christ
through the Bible or through other people,
can introduce a person
to Christian belief,... It must then be ourselves
who become personally
involved in an intimate and
deep relationship with Jesus.”
POPE BENEDICT XVI
THIS MEANS...
LEARNING WHO THE PERSON OF CHRIST TRULY IS, WHY HE CAME, AND DISCOVERING WHY HE IS THE REASON FOR OUR HOPE.....
...IT ALSO MEANS SAYING A POSITIVE 'YES' TO CHRIST,
REJECTING OUR OWN PERSONAL INTERPRETATIONS,
AND FOLLOWING WHAT JESUS TEACHES THROUGH HIS CATHOLIC CHURCH. IT IS ONLY THROUGH THIS SURRENDER THAT WE CAN EVER EXPERIENCE THE TRUE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL & WHAT IS PROMISED FOR US BY CHRIST.
THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A DEVOUT CATHOLIC.
IT MEANS SAYING 'YES' TO BECOMING A
THIS IS THE WHOLE POINT OF BEING A MEMBER
OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH.
WE WERE CREATED BY GOD FOR GREATNESS BY
WE WERE CREATED BY GOD FOR GREATNESS BY
FOLLOWING A PATH TO SAINTHOOD. THIS MESSAGE IS FOR ALL AND NOT JUST A SELECT FEW. WE CAN ONLY DO THIS BY FORMING A DEEP RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST WHERE HE IS THE CENTRAL FOCUS IN OUR LIVES.
WE ARE SUSTAINED IN THIS RELATIONSHIP BY PRAYER, & ESPECIALLY BY RECEIVING THE BLESSED SACRAMENT WHEN WE ARE IN A STATE OF GRACE, WITH NO KNOWN PAST OR PRESENT UNCONFESSED MORTAL SINS, AS THIS WILL DRAW US CLOSER TO CHRIST.
A Catholic Relationship with Christ
is more than Just 'A Personal
Relationship with Jesus'.
It is important to understand exactly what is meant by the phrase 'a relationship with Jesus' in the context of the Catholic Church. This is because in the Catholic Church the understanding differs considerably from the protestant, non-conformist, and free churches...
There are two important points
to remember...
1. In the Catholic Church we have the most personal relationship with Jesus...
Beyond this....
2. We then have to live out our Christian lives between the Masses we attend. This interveneing period should not be simply thought of as 'following a set of rules', but that we are in discipleship with Christ. The rules Catholics follow in the Catechism are an expression of God's authentic love for mankind as revealed by the Holy Spirit. We follow Christ in discipleship whilst understanding that the rules of the Church are in the service of God's authentic love for us. These rules set us free. Only then can we live our life 'more abundantly' as Christ promised.
...Although we are entering into Discipleship with Christ, when we look at the correct theology we can see that we are actually entering into a deeper...
...Covenantal Relationship
with God (the New Covenant)
with God (the New Covenant)
To grow in Faith we must at some point search deeper into the timeless truths of the Catholic Faith so that we can experience the true Gospel message. There will be a time when we have to move beyond the catechism, and search into the writings of St. Francis de Sales, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thomas A Kempis, and move towards a simple 'rule of life' based on, forinstance, a Great Saint like St. Benedict of Norcia.
The Catholic Bible expert,
Dr. Scott Hahn explains all.
It is worth noting alongside this video that those
who have been...
...over sacramentalised and
under evangelised...
...often struggle to bear fruit, accept the gifts that they have been given, and accept graces, because the Gospel message has not been fully received and accepted.
The New Evangelisation aims to avoid this by encouraging us to learn about our faith, not to cut corners, and developing an understanding that Christ is present and working in our lives.
CATECHESIS &
EVANGELISATION!!!
(Diadace and Kerygma)
Youth, & adult Catechesis (RCIA), are absolutely essential and central to the life of the Catholic Church, but they are not the starting point of the Christian journey. Catechesis on its own cannot solely make a person become a Follower of Christ, and they cannot solely help a person form a relationship with Jesus which would make them take their faith more seriously. To enter into fellowship with Christ we have to start doing what He tells us and guides us to do through His Catholic Church. This is how we start to encounter Christ in our everyday lives. Learning is not enough. We also have to 'do'. We also need to develop a strong prayer life which at the beginning of our faith journey is often discursive, and involves speaking regularly and directly to Christ...
Pope Benedict XVI gets directly to the
primary point of evangelisation when he says....
A direct knowledge of the Teacher began for the disciples. They saw where he lived and began to know Him. They would not have to be heralds of an idea, but witnesses of a person. Before being sent to evangelise, they would have to "be" with Jesus (cf. Mark 3:14), establishing a personal relationship with him.
With this foundation, evangelisation is..... a proclamation of what has
been experienced and an invitation to enter into the mystery of
communion with Christ (cf. 1 John 13).”
Pope Benedict XVI, March 22, 2006
Pope Benedict XVI on
our relationship and encounter
with Christ.
...we can be
witnesses only if we know Christ first hand, and not only through others, from
our own life, from our personal encounter with Christ. Finding him really in
our life of faith we become witnesses.
POPE BENEDICT XVI,
Vatican
City, January 20th, 2010, Zenit
________________
“Our knowledge of Jesus is in need above all of a living experience: Another person's testimony is certainly important, as in general the whole of our Christian life begins with the proclamation that comes to us from one or several witnesses. But we ourselves must be personally involved in an intimate and profound relationship with Jesus.”
Pope Benedict XVI,
_________________
"Although hearing
about Christ
through the Bible or through other people,
can introduce a person
to Christian belief,... It must then be ourselves (who) become personally
involved in an intimate and deep relationship with Jesus.”
POPE BENEDICT XVI
October
4th, 2006
Being Christian
is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with
an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.
POPE BENEDICT
XVI; Encyclical Letter:
Deus Caritas Est, “God is Love”; 1.
_________________
A direct knowledge of the Teacher began for the disciples. They saw where he lived and began to know him. They would not have to be heralds of an idea, but witnesses of a person. Before being sent to evangelise, they would have to "be" with Jesus (cf. Mark 3:14), establishing a personal relationship with him.
With this foundation, evangelisation is..... a proclamation of what has
been experienced and an invitation to enter into the mystery of
communion with Christ (cf. 1 John 13).”
Pope Benedict XVI, March 22, 2006
Fr. Tim Finnegan of the
Hermeneutic
of Continuity on a
Personal Relationship with Christ.
Personal Relationship with Christ.
(Originally in the Catholic Herald 23rd January, 2015)
We seem to be hearing a lot of talk about a 'personal relationship with Jesus'! It all sounds rather cloying and evangelical to me.
Sherry Weddell, along with other authors, has been influential in proposing discipleship of Christ as a necessary part of renewing Catholic life in parishes. One of her findings was that people who are actively involved in the life of their parish were not actually sure whether they believed in a God with whom they could have a personal relationship. When this happens, the parish can become simply a social activity provider for customers, or a group to raise funds for worthy causes.
It is reasonable to question whether promoting discipleship has to involve an "Evangelical" style of activity, but the central point that we must foster a personal relationship with Jesus among people in the parish is undeniable. For some Catholics, the language of "personal relationship" may be off putting. "Devotion" is an expression found in the spiritual classics and may be a helpful alternative provided that it is understood not as a system but as genuine love for God. Josemaria Eschriva spoke simply of friendship with Christ.
What Weddell and others have done is to give a startling wake-up call to many bishops and priests in the West who are looking at a steady decline in the life of their parishes and wondering what to do about it. The straightforward call to personal discipleship with Christ, shared in the communion of the Church, has a great deal to commend it.
Fr. Tim Finnegan is acknowledged as one of the countries most orthodox & traditional priests. His renowned Catholic blog is at http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.co.uk/
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