  The three challenges facing evangelization today were raised by the Master of the Order, Fr Bruno Cadoré OP, in his speech, delivered on Monday, the 15th of October, at the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, on the theme, “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian faith,”
 According to him, the challenge of evangelization finds its joy and strength in contemplation. This insight made by mendicant Orders brings to light three of the challenges that evangelization faces. The challenge of knowledge; faced in dialogue with all seekers of truth, philosophers, scientists, researchers. Deploying the sciences and knowledge provides the opportunity to realize this “beautiful friendship between faith and the sciences†proclaimed by the Council. In faith one contemplates the mystery of the ongoing creation of God and his faithful call to the freedom and reason of man. In friendship we can, with men of science, discern the challenges in order to build together a world for man.
The challenge of freedom. In meeting with our contemporaries, believers and non-believers, it is necessary first of all to present the friendship of God with man, rather than formulating questions and answers that at times are not asked in the proper terms. Being led by God’s patience rather than relying on man, so that he learns to place his freedom at the height of his dignity and to contemplate the mercy of Christ, who precedes him, He who teaches his friends what he received from the Father.
The challenge of brotherhood. Religious communities desire to be places in which brotherhood constructed in diversity aspires to be transformed by the spirit of communion in “sacrament†of friendship of God with the world. And, because of this hope, they are challenged to broaden this hope of communion, tying their destination to the forgotten of the world, making of them the conviction of the Synod of 1971: “Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospelâ€.
Posted By paddy On October 15, 2012 (12:00 pm) In Editor’s Choice
Whatever its defects, a synod is always a kind of graduate seminar about the realities of life in a global church, bringing together bishops and other church leaders from every nook and cranny of the planet. The opening week of this one has been devoted largely to surveying what works and what doesn’t in terms of Catholic evangelization in various parts of the world, and some distinctive regional accents have already emerged.
To be sure, a bewildering variety of points are always made in the opening stages, and not all the voices from a given region are singing from the same hymnal. In broad strokes, however, here’s what some leading Catholic voices seem to believe is required to make the church relevant in their neighborhoods:
Asia: humility, simplicity and silence
Africa: ministering to people scarred by poverty and violence
Latin America: taking cues from what’s already working, such as popular piety and small Christian communities (often called “base communitiesâ€)
Europe and the States: sound doctrine and sacramental practice as an antidote to the influence of a largely secular culture
Asia
On this landscape, the Asian voice so far probably has been the most compact as well as the most distinctive. Tuesday morning, Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, widely considered a rising star among the Asian bishops, said for the church to be a place where people meet God, it needs to learn three things from the example of Jesus: humility, respect for others, and silence.
“The church must discover the power of silence,†Tagle said. “Confronted with the sorrows, doubts and uncertainties of people, she cannot pretend to give easy solutions. In Jesus, silence becomes the way of attentive listening, compassion and prayer. It is the way to truth.â€
“The seemingly indifferent and aimless societies of our time are earnestly looking for God,†Tagle said. “The world takes delight in a simple witness to Jesus — meek and humble of heart.â€
Irish Fr. Eamonn Conway, a theologian who’s among the expert advisers to the synod, said Thursday that Tagle’s presentation “had a certain resonance†in the synod hall, meaning people were favorably taken by it. A fellow Filipino, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, made an equally strong plea for humility. “Evangelization has been hurt and continues to be impeded by the arrogance of its messengers,†Villegas said. “The hierarchy must shun arrogance, hypocrisy and bigotry.â€Â “The Gospel cannot thrive in pride,†Villegas said. “When pride seeps into the heart of the church, the Gospel proclamation is harmed.â€
Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi in Bangladesh, meanwhile, stressed the importance of “evangelical poverty†in Asia.
“We must learn not only to renounce worldly goods, but also to appreciate the simplicity and humility of the poor, their happiness with whatever little they have and their concern for others,†Rozario said. “Church leaders must also open their hearts to be evangelized by the evangelical values of the poor.â€
Full Story: An Asian plea for humility at the Synod of Bishops
Source: National Catholic Reporter
Article taken from ucanews.com – http://www.ucanews.com
URL to article: http://www.ucanews.com/2012/10/15/asian-prelates-make-strong-impression-at-synod-of-bishops/
