This is an excerpt from an Address by Mr. Carl Anderson, current leader of the Knights of Columbus. Laity of the world need to set their moral compass:… A little more than a decade ago, in Ecclesia in America, Pope John Paul II wrote about the future of Catholicism in our hemisphere and he called Our Lady of Guadalupe “the Star of the New Evangelization.”
Code:He also said this, about the importance of the laity in promoting the New Evangelization: “The renewal of the Church in America will not be possible without the active presence of the laity. Therefore, they are largely responsible for the future of the Church.”
Code:All of us have a leadership role to play in continuing the conversion of our continent—a conversion begun by Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531. We must not be tempted to think that the “event” of Our Lady of Guadalupe was only for a year or a decade or even for a century.
Code:Blessed John Paul II spoke of Our Lady of Guadalupe not in the past tense, but as the “Star of the New Evangelization.” She remains capable of changing the lives not only of individual believers, but also of the future of our society.
Code:The New Evangelization calls each of us to be like Saint Juan Diego—to be public witnesses to our faith.
Code:On the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2000, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – now Pope Benedict XVI – wrote: “This is why we are in need of a new evangelization—if the art of living remains an unknown, nothing else works. But this art is not the object of a science—this art can only be communicated by [one] who has life—he who is the Gospel personified.”
Code:The layman, Juan Diego, became the Gospel personified and carried his love of the Mother of God and her son to an entire “New World.”
Code:We must continue the work he began.
Code:We must be messengers of the New Evangelization.
Code:We must witness to the Gospel in our words and deeds.
Code:To begin with, all of us must take care to align our life and our moral compass to “the Star of the New Evangelization.” We must lead by example, and like Juan Diego, we must overcome any fears we may have in standing up for what is right... We must not be discouraged... with her everything changed...Full text is [HERE](http://www.zenit.org/article-35431?l=english)
Any comments?Dear Semper Zelare,I’ve ran into the prophecy that St. Dominic foretold a couple times recently, and this reminded me of that. He told the founder of the Carmelites that one day the whole world would be saved by Mary through the devotions of the Rosary and the Brown Scapular.
Having learned a lot more about Mary recently, it seems very natural that she would have a prominent place in the New Evangelization. I’m very glad about this. I think one of the core things that has to be behind everyone in the New Evangelization (at least who are Catholic), is really having a deep devotion to Our Lady.
- The salvation of the world began through Mary and through her it must be accomplished. Mary scarcely appeared in the first coming of Jesus Christ so that men, as yet insufficiently instructed and enlightened concerning the person of her Son, might not wander from the truth by becoming too strongly attached to her. This would apparently have happened if she had been known, on account of the wondrous charms with which Almighty God had endowed even her outward appearance. So true is this that St. Denis the Areopagite tells us in his writings that when he saw her he would have taken her for a goddess, because of her incomparable beauty, had not his well-grounded faith taught him otherwise. But in the second coming of Jesus Christ, Mary must be known and openly revealed by the Holy Spirit so that Jesus may be known, loved and served through her. The reasons which moved the Holy Spirit to hide his spouse during her life and to reveal but very little of her since the first preaching of the gospel exist no longer…(from True Devotion, by St. Louis de Montfort
Dear akka,AVE MARIA! :harp:
I think we should hold the place that have been marked by Mary as a stronghold for evangelization.
marypages.com/
Dear anruari,Evangelsation is not an option. it is not a nice idea. it is most certainly not something to be avoided.
It is a sacred obligation placed on every Christian by virtue of their baptism.
Our Lady reminds us of this in every private revelation: but that is not binding on us. The Bible reminds us of this throughout the Old and New Testament. It was Jesus final command to all His disciples (not just the Apostles).
Our Holy Father reminds us of this regularly. Blessed Pope John Paul II said:
“Any faith community which is not at it’s heart an evengelical community has in truth ceased to be a Christian community.” (I may have the quote slightly muddled… but the meaning is there)
Our current Holy Father has announced a “Year of Faith”… a year of catechesis and evangelisation. for all the faithful.