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Thursday, June 8, 2017

Evangelization

Today, the churches sit mostly empty except on Christmas, Easter, and during the village fiesta.  This is not happening only on Guam, but everywhere. Asia and Africa are the only two continents where one sees a rise in Catholicism. Europe has shown a sharp decline.  While many Catholics stayed at home or joined other Christian denominations, very little was being done to entice or encourage them back to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. 

Christ entrusted all of us with the mission to go out and spread the Gospel to the ends of the world.  This mission is not given to the priests and bishops alone.  The Charismatic Catholic Renewal is making much headway in Latin America in bringing fallen away Catholics back to the Church.  According to one report:
In the last century, Pew reports, the percentage of the world's Catholics in Latin America and the Caribbean has risen from 24 percent to 39 percent, with an estimated 425 million of the world's nearly 1.1 billion Catholics residing in the region in 2010. 
And part of that Catholic growth in recent decades has come from the rise of Catholic charismatic groups, which from their origins in the late 1960s now attract an estimated more than 70 million followers in Latin America, according to scholars such as Jakob Thorsen of Aarhus University in Denmark. 
 And those followers, unlike many nominal Catholics on the continent are active and committed.
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement has led to an internal revival that has seen Mass attendance rise and some of new converts “or reconverts,” Catholics returning to their faith, according to religion scholar Carlos Frederico Barboza de Souza of the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais. 
Like the Charismatic Catholic Renewal, the Neocatechumenal Way have also brought people back to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Worldwide, the NCW consist of some former atheists, fallen away Catholics, and non-Catholics. The goal of the NCW is to bring people closer to Jesus Christ in which they come to know Him intimately. 

Christ is the mediator between God and His Church.  And His Church is the mediator between Christ and the rest of humanity.  In other words, it is the duty of the Church to bring all humanity to Christ.  This is not the duty of the bishops and priests alone.  Thus, the NCW has mission families, itinerants, and mission communities traveling in small groups and in two by twos.  As shown in the photo below, sometimes the priest evangelizes with the laity.     

To evangelize means to go out of the church building.  The message of Pope Francis to the Church:
“But in order to evangelize: ‘Get up and go!’ One doesn’t say: ‘Stay seated, calm, in your house’: No! In order to be faithful to the Lord, the Church should always be on its feet and on the journey: ‘Get up and go.’ A Church that does not rise up, that is not on the journey, is sick.” 
“All men, all women have a restlessness in their hearts – [they may be] good or bad, but there is a restlessness. Listen to that restlessness. It’s not saying: ‘Go out and proselytise.’ No, no! ‘Go and listen.’ Listening is the second step. The first: ‘Get up and go’; the second: ‘Listen.’ That ability to listen: What do people feel? What does the heart of the people feel? What does it think? But do they think mistaken things? But I want to hear these mistaken things, in order to understand where the restlessness is. We all have this restlessness within. The second step for the Church is to find the restlessness of the people.” 
This message is not only to the laity, but to the priests and bishops as well.  Unfortunately, some priests prefer the comforts of their home inside the church building, waiting for the lost sheep to come to them, while others take to the Internet and social media to evangelize.  While technology has its good usage, this is not the proper way to evangelize.  Face to face human contact is the only way for the second step to take place. The second step is to listen to the people. You cannot know the restlessness within the people unless you meet with them. 

Related image 
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29 comments:

  1. Yeah this is what Byrnes is just being comfortable in his home and be seated in a building then going out because he just wants to put his program in which is the competition of the way because like how on their YouTube video they say it's not about planting a seed but us in the way we plant the seed because the seed grows Byrnes program does not do anything like that

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  2. Dear God is one,

    You probably misunderstood Archbishop Byrnes. Also, it is not us in the Way who plant the seed. It is the Holy Spirit who planted the seed of faith in our baptism. Can you give me the weblink where you listened to Archbishop Byrnes in YouTube?

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  3. Diana, the link was posted in last week's edition of the Umatuna si Yuous. The videos are on the Archriocese of Agana YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSJh50exXAk5kwTbtfUgXWA

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    1. Dear God is one.

      Thank you for providing the weblink. I shall take a look at it after work.

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  4. God is one @ 12:26pm:

    From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

    543 Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations.251 To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word:

    The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest.252

    567 The kingdom of heaven was inaugurated on earth by Christ. "This kingdom shone out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ" (LG 5). >>> The Church is the seed and beginning of this kingdom. Its keys are entrusted to Peter. <<<

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  5. https://youtu.be/mHqyPsRUsMU Here is one and here is another but the first one is not of Byrnes https://youtu.be/ZRFrL3aNOsA

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    1. Dear God is one,

      I have looked at the weblinks you provided. So far, I do not hear anything in Archbishop Byrnes speech that is contradictory to what the Catholic Church teaches. He stated about having a relationship with Christ. I see nothing wrong with that. He said that we can know Christ through the scripture. I find this to be true. This is why we have youth scrutacio every month with our young people. We also have scrutacio in our retreats.

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    2. But did you watch the first video

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    3. Dear God is one,

      Yes. I heard Archbishop Byrnes say that all of us are sinners.

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  6. Now that's a good sign, a sign with good people walking the sidewalk, then the signs walking in front of the Church Protesting!!

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  7. " In other words, it is the duty of the Church to bring all humanity to Christ."

    Except the Jews, who are saved without the Church or Christ, apparently, and whether they believe in God or not.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 10:39 am,

      The Jews are already God's people. They have always been God's people. He who called them to be His people does not lie nor break His word to anyone.

      Leviticus 26:12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.

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    2. "The Jews are already God's people"

      Yeah, you've said that already, but it only makes you sound silly, because most of us are aware that "Jews" include a majority that do not observe the faith and practices of Judaism, nor even believe in God. How then , can you say that they are "already God's people"? And how, even if they are practicing, attentive and conscientious followers of Judaism, do you maintain that they are "already God's people", if, like us, they can sin and fall away from relationship with God by their own free choice. Surely, like us, in that situation, they would need top be reconciled with God? Which jewish sacrament does that, I wonder?

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 12:37 pm,

      How then do you account for the fact that a majority of Catholics do not follow the Church doctrine of contraceptives, homosexuality, same sex marriage, pre-martial sex, abortion, etc. While it is true that we fall into sin and need to be reconciled by God, God, on the other hand, never abandoned us despite how many times we fall. God called Israel His people even when they sin. God does not abandon His people. And when He says, they are His people....then they ARE His people. Why? Because God does not lie.

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    4. The Lord Jesus tells the Jews:

      "Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth." (Matt 23:34-35)

      Why did he have to say that, Diana, why?

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    5. Diana, you often forget about St. Peter, our first Pope, whose sermons are kept in the Acts of the Apostles and two of his letters are listed in the Scriptures. He preached to the early Christian who were all Jews. They converted to Christianity and some of them converted back to Judaism later. Why did St. Peter condemn them? Do you think St. Peter was not a good Jew before He became a Christian?

      "For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved,[j] with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain." (2 Peter 1:17-18)

      "His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by[d] his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:3-4)

      St. Peter warns here the Jewish Christians that it is only through Jesus Christ that they can escape the corruption of the world. He had to say that because many early Christians abandoned faith in Jesus' divine teaching and fell back into their old ways. They did not understand that Jesus was/is the only way, truth and life.

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    6. Dear Anonymous at 2:48 pm,

      The first letter of Peter was not addressed to the Jewish Christians. It was addressed to the Gentile converts. The Gentiles were never Jewish in the first place. They were pagans. If they reverted back to their old ways, it would be paganism, not Judaism.

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    7. Dear Anonymous at 2:34 pm,

      What does the Catholic Church teach about who crucified Christ? It teaches that we are all responsible. It was our sins that crucified Him. Do you believe what the Catholic Church teach or not?

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    8. Diana, I quoted from the 2nd letter of St. Peter. Also, in the Acts of the Apostles he preaches:

      “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead." (Acts 3:12-15)

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    9. "Let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is
      ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
      it has become the cornerstone.’
      There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4: 10-12)

      St. Peter is very powerful and straightforward! He did not preach to the Gentiles, he was preaching to the Jews.

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    10. Dear Anonymous at 3:25 pm,

      In Acts 3:12-15, Peter was not addressing the Jewish Christian. According to Acts 3, Peter went into the temple to address the Jewish LEADERS, who were the ones responsible for handling Jesus over to the Romans. Today, the Catholic Church teaches that it was our sins that crucified Christ. Do you believe the Catholic Church or not?

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    11. Diana, are you saying St. Peter is in error?!

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    12. Dear Anonymous at 4:06 pm,

      No. You are in error. Only the Church can interpret Sacred Scripture.

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    13. Diana, there is no interpretation here. I quoted the Bible. The Scripture is powerful as a double-edged sword! You have no defense against the Word of God.

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    14. Dear Anonymous at 4:32 pm,

      We do not believe in "Sola Scriptura."

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    15. Diana, do you know what Sola Scriptura is? Quoting the Bible is the duty of all Christians. It is not Sola Scriptura! The Word of God is a two-edged sword! Very powerful.

      "Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force." (Rev 1:12-13,16)

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    16. The argument about Peter is ridiculous. Peter himself was a Jew. Peter was announcing the good news and conversion to the Jews. In order to convert one must recognize his faults so he denounces that they killed Christ. Diana is right though we have all killed Christ when we choose our whim and will over that of God the father.
      Many of the Jews who where announced this good news converted to Christianity. This doesn't mean Jewish people are solely responsible for the death of Christ. This is just racism and identity politics. We are all responsible as individuals for what we do as people. We all have the same capacity as the high priest who sent Christ to die to reject the truth Christ has to offer and favor our own. In essence this is why the church teaches we all have killed Christ when we choose sin over love, justice over mercy.

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  8. Please don't forget that Jews are not only Jews by virtue of active participation in faith practices... One is a Jew by being born of a Jewish mother. There are many Jews who believe in Jesus. There were the first disciples and many who followed in the early Church and there are many today. Some in secret (as in the time of Jesus also) and there are many Catholics as well of whom not many realize that they're Jews but they are born of Jewish mothers. I have met Israeli Catholics who worship in the Hebrew language.

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    1. Messianic Jews accept Jesus as Messiah. They are a minority in Judaism.

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