New Evangelization needs adults who are “mature in the faith and witnesses..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Pope Benedict XVI sees the need for Adult Faith Formation, but how many parishes and/or dioceses recognize this need? The Pope's words from a recent address:

...So many of the baptized have lost their identity and membership: they do not know the essential contents of the faith or think they can cultivate it without ecclesial mediation. And while many look with doubt at the truths taught by the Church, others reduce the Kingdom of God to some great values, which certainly have something to do with the Gospel, but which again have no concern with the central nucleus of the Christian faith. The Kingdom of God is a gift that transcends us. As Blessed John Paul II affirmed: “The kingdom of God is not a concept, a doctrine, or a program subject to free interpretation, but it is before all else a person with the face and name of Jesus of Nazareth, the image of the invisible God.” (John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio [December 7, 1990], 18). Unfortunately, it is God Himself who is excluded from the horizon of so many persons, and when the discourse on God does not meet with indifference, closure or rejection, it is nevertheless relegated to the subjective realm, reduced to an intimate and private event, marginalized from the public conscience... It is a spiritual and moral crisis: man pretends to have an identity fulfilled simply in himself...

... the old and new mission that is before us is that of introducing men and women of our time to the relationship with God, to help them to open their mind and heart to that God who seeks them and wants to be close to them, to lead them to understand that to do his will is not a limitation of liberty, but it is to be truly free, to realize the true good of life. God is the guarantor, not the counter-current of our happiness, and where the Gospel enters – and hence the friendship of Christ – man experiences his being the object of a love that purifies, warms and renews, and renders us capable of loving and serving man with divine love.

... the New Evangelization needs adults who are “mature in the faith and witnesses of humanity.” Attention to the world of adults manifests your awareness of the decisive role of those who are called, in the different realms of life, to assume an educational responsibility in addressing the new generations. Watch and work so that the Christian community will be able to form adult persons in the faith because they have encountered Jesus Christ, who has become the fundamental reference of their life; persons who know Him because they love Him and they love Him because they have known Him; persons capable of giving solid and credible reasons of life. Particularly important, in this formative journey – 20 years after its publication – is the Catechism of the Catholic Church, precious aid for an organic and complete knowledge of the contents of the faith and to lead to the encounter with Christ. Also thanks to this instrument, may the assent of faith become criterion of intelligence and action that involves the whole of existence...

Full text of the Pope's Address can be read [HERE](http://www.zenit.org/article-34837?l=english)

 

[Justice_Mercy]

Excellent!

"As the main topic of your Assembly evidences opportunely, the New Evangelization needs adults who are “mature in the faith and witnesses of humanity.” Attention to the world of adults manifests your awareness of the decisive role of those who are called, in the different realms of life, to assume an educational responsibility in addressing the new generations. Watch and work so that the Christian community will be able to form adult persons in the faith because they have encountered Jesus Christ, who has become the fundamental reference of their life; persons who know Him because they love Him and they love Him because they have known Him; persons capable of giving solid and credible reasons of life. "

I make no claim or boast that I am “mature in the faith”, but I have noticed when doing Apologetics with very young and zealous people involved in cults and heretical errors (recently it has been several Oneness Pentecostals) that they are not grounded in the solid teachings of scripture and by default are not grounded in the teachings of the Church.

It is important for adults to reach out to the young, who are increasingly beset by Nihilism, disdain for the things of God or are prey to the heresy of cults and a host of other things that would distract or dissuade them from sound doctrine and the savior, who is truth.

Thanks to the OP for bringing this to my attention. It is a call we should all heed!

 

[Joannm]

My diocese has an excellent program for faith formation for adults but it is a 2 year program and a bit costly. Many parishes offer programs for their adult parishioners but unfortunately very few take advantage of it even though the programs are offered at different times to accommodate various schedules. They just don’t come and don’t see it as important in their lives. That is a sad fact. Evangelization is going to have to happen one on one, with faithful Catholics talking to their friends and sharing their love of God with others. Then perhaps they will start coming to programs. People’s lives are so busy and young parents are involved in shuffling their kids here and their. Perhaps the Internet has to be a big way to evangelize as well. Our parish is on Facebook and we are working on sending blast e-mails monthly to parishioners.

 

[MariaChristi]

Excellent!

"As the main topic of your Assembly evidences opportunely, the New Evangelization needs adults who are “mature in the faith and witnesses of humanity.” Attention to the world of adults manifests your awareness of the decisive role of those who are called, in the different realms of life, to assume an educational responsibility in addressing the new generations. Watch and work so that the Christian community will be able to form adult persons in the faith because they have encountered Jesus Christ, who has become the fundamental reference of their life; persons who know Him because they love Him and they love Him because they have known Him; persons capable of giving solid and credible reasons of life. "

I make no claim or boast that I am “mature in the faith”, but I have noticed when doing Apologetics with very young and zealous people involved in cults and heretical errors (recently it has been several Oneness Pentecostals) that they are not grounded in the solid teachings of scripture and by default are not grounded in the teachings of the Church.

It is important for adults to reach out to the young, who are increasingly beset by Nihilism, disdain for the things of God or are prey to the heresy of cults and a host of other things that would distract or dissuade them from sound doctrine and the savior, who is truth.

Thanks to the OP for bringing this to my attention. It is a call we should all heed!

Dear JusticeMercy,

Thanks for your reply. It is so important for all of us to continue to grow in our faith, and to continue sharing the Truth with all those who come into our lives. So many Catholics have had less than a solid grounding in the faith – and they seem to be content with very little. How many parishes have Bible Study classes for adults? How many attend Bible Studies or have read any of the documents of Vatican II to be able to explain the Catholic faith?

My husband and I have been working as volunteers in our parish and it is astounding to us how little emphasis is placed on Adult Faith formation. Catholic Schools can do only so much; the home is the “domestic church” and parents are the primary educators in the faith. There truly needs to be more emphasis on Adult Faith formation as the Pope is telling us. Let us continue to pray and do whatever we can to speak God’s Truth in love, wherever we are.

 

[MariaChristi]

My diocese has an excellent program for faith formation for adults but it is a 2 year program and a bit costly. Many parishes offer programs for their adult parishioners but unfortunately very few take advantage of it even though the programs are offered at different times to accommodate various schedules. They just don’t come and don’t see it as important in their lives. That is a sad fact. Evangelization is going to have to happen one on one, with faithful Catholics talking to their friends and sharing their love of God with others. Then perhaps they will start coming to programs. People’s lives are so busy and young parents are involved in shuffling their kids here and their. Perhaps the Internet has to be a big way to evangelize as well. Our parish is on Facebook and we are working on sending blast e-mails monthly to parishioners.

Dear Joannm,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I believe the internet can be a good tool for evangelization, but we need more than those who are using their computers.

Bishops and pastors have a serious obligation to “feed their flocks”. The Pope has given excellent leadership but it does not seem to filter down. Parishes need to set a priority on Adult formation in more than words, so that lay people understand how much responsibility they share in the spreading of the Gospel. We are all called to holiness and to the mission of evangelization. “The Church exists to evangelize”, wrote Pope Paul VI in his encyclical on Evangelization in the Modern World. The Church is all of us, each functioning as unique members of the Body of Christ.

Let us continue to pray to the Holy Spirit for both individual renewal and renewal for the entire Church. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful. Kindle in us the Fire of Your Love!