Week 16, Tuesday. Evangelizing Thought of the Day (ETD)

DAILY SEQUENTIAL EXCERPTS from The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith – Instrumentum Laboris:

63. By necessity, the changes treated up to this point influence the way people express their sense of religion. The Lineamenta responses recommended adding religion as a seventh sector, thereby providing the means to more thoroughly understand, in many different cultures, the return of a religious sense and the need for various forms of spirituality, especially among the young. Even though the present process of secularization is leading to a weakened sense of the spiritual in many persons and an emptiness of heart, many regions of the world are showing signs of a significant religious revival. This phenomenon has an impact on the Catholic Church herself in providing resources and opportunities for evangelization which were not present a few decades ago.
64. The responses to the Lineamenta gave particular attention to this growing phenomenon, acknowledging both its complex character and undoubtedly positive aspects. In fact, the situation provides the opportunity to restore an element which is part of the human identity, namely religion, thereby going beyond the limitations and impoverishment of an idea of a person viewed only from a horizontal perspective. This phenomenon fosters religious experience and re-establishes its centrality in people's minds, in history, and in the meaning of life itself and the search for truth. (Instrumentum Laboris, “Chapter 2: Time for a New Evangelization,” paragraph 63-64)


Lord, show us your mercy and love. (Psalm 85:8, Mass).


COLLECT
Show favor, O Lord, to Your servants
and mercifully increase the gifts of Your grace,
that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity,
they may be ever watchful in keeping Your commands.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.


Five paragraphs address the “Religious Sector,” a sector not found in the Lineamenta but added to the Instrumentum Laboris based on global responses to the Lineamenta. While some might be shocked to read “many regions of the world are showing signs of a significant revival,” such a revival – wherever it is happening – is an indicator of the emptiness of secularism and narcissism. The human spirit cannot thrive on crass materialism and life lived according to the anthem, ‘I did it my way.’ The Instrumentum Laboris notes particularly the revival of a religious sense among young people. Ask anyone who has any contact with youth involved in Kairos retreats, World Youth Day or similar activities and you will hear joy-filled reports about the vitality and enthusiasm of faith. The Instrumentum Laboris sees this as an “opportunity to restore an element which is part of the human identity, namely religion, thereby going beyond the limitations and impoverishment of an idea of a person viewed only from a horizontal perspective.”

Consider:
  • Do you see a ‘religious revival’ happening in ‘your neck of the woods?’
  • With ‘religion’ popularly blasted for causing division in society, how can the Church help people to experience the ‘religious sense’ as a constitutive element of human identity?

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