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Topic 12: Evangelizing is the action of the Holy
Spirit (EN n. 75-81)
Comments, excerpts and questions by Ewald Kreuzer, OFS
“The Holy
Spirit is the soul of the Church“, writes Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic
Exhortation “Evangelii nuntiandi” (n.75) which is
still highly relevant in the present situation of the Church´s mission to
evangelize. He expresses his desire that “pastors and theologians - and we
would also say the faithful marked by the seal of the Spirit by Baptism -
should study more thoroughly the nature and manner of the Holy Spirit's
action in evangelization today” and exhorts “all evangelizers, whoever they
may be, to pray without ceasing to the Holy Spirit with faith and fervor and
to let themselves prudently be guided by Him as the decisive inspirer of
their plans, their initiatives and their evangelizing activity.” We, Secular
Franciscans, also recall the words of St. Francis that the Holy Spirit
Himself is the real “General Minister” of our Order. With this in mind, let
us trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit in following our specific vocation
and mission “to live the Gospel according to Franciscan spirituality in (our)
secular condition.” (General Constitutions Art. 8, 1)
75. EVANGELIZING IS THE ACTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Evangelization will never be possible without the action of the Holy
Spirit. (…) In fact, it is only after the coming of the Holy Spirit on the
day of Pentecost that the apostles depart to all the ends of the earth in
order to begin the great work of the Church's evangelization. (…)
 The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church. It is He who explains to the faithful the deep meaning of the
teaching of Jesus and of His mystery. It is the Holy Spirit who, today just
as at the beginning of the Church, acts in every evangelizer who allows
himself to be possessed and led by Him. The Holy Spirit places on his lips
the words which he could not find by himself, and at the same time the Holy
Spirit predisposes the soul of the hearer to be open and receptive to the
Good News and to the kingdom being proclaimed. Techniques of evangelization
are good, but even the most advanced ones could not replace the gentle action
of the Spirit. The most perfect preparation of the evangelizer has no effect
without the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit the most convincing
dialectic has no power over the heart of man. Without Him the most highly developed
schemas resting on a sociological or psychological basis are quickly seen to
be quite valueless. We live in the Church at a privileged moment of the
Spirit. Everywhere people are trying to know Him better, as the Scripture
reveals Him. They are happy to place themselves under His inspiration. They
are gathering about Him; they want to let themselves be led by Him. Now if
the Spirit of God has a preeminent place in the whole life of the Church, it
is in her evangelizing mission that He is most active.
It must be said that the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of
evangelization: it is He who impels each individual to proclaim the
Gospel, and it is He who in the depths of consciences causes the word of
salvation to be accepted and understood [Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical
Council, Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity Ad Gentes, 4]. But it can
equally be said that He is the goal of evangelization: He alone stirs up the
new creation, the new humanity of which evangelization is to be the result,
with that unity in variety which evangelization wishes to achieve within the
Christian community. Through the Holy Spirit the Gospel penetrates to the
heart of the world, for it is He who causes people to discern the signs of
the times - signs willed by God - which evangelization reveals and puts to
use within history.
76. THE WITNESS OF LIFE IS ESSENTIAL. (…) Especially in regard to young people it is said that they have
a horror of the artificial or false and that they are searching above all for
truth and honesty. These "signs of the times" should find us
vigilant. Either tacitly or aloud - but always forcefully - we are being
asked: Do you really believe what you are proclaiming? Do you live what
you believe? Do you really preach what you live? The witness of life has
become more than ever an essential condition for real effectiveness in
preaching. Precisely because of this we are, to a certain extent, responsible
for the progress of the Gospel that we proclaim. (...) We therefore address
our exhortation to our brethren in the Episcopate, placed by the Holy Spirit
to govern the Church.[Cf. Acts 20:28] We exhort the
priests and deacons, the bishops' collaborators in assembling the People of
God and in animating spiritually the local communities. We exhort the religious,
witnesses of a Church called to holiness and hence themselves
invited to a life that bears testimony to the beatitudes of the Gospel. We
exhort the laity: Christian families, youth, adults, all those who exercise a
trade or profession, leaders, without forgetting the poor who are often rich
in faith and hope- all lay people who are conscious of their evangelizing
role in the service of their Church or in the midst of society and the world.
We say to all of them: our evangelizing zeal must spring from true holiness
of life, and, as the Second Vatican Council suggests, preaching must in its
turn make the preacher grow in holiness, which is nourished by prayer and
above all by love for the Eucharist. [Cf. Decree on the Ministry and Life of
Priests Presbyterorum Ordinis, 13]
77. UNITY AS WAY AND INSTRUMENT OF
EVANGELIZATION. The power of evangelization will find itself considerably
diminished if those who proclaim the Gospel are divided among themselves in
all sorts of ways. (…) The division among Christians is a serious reality
which impedes the very work of Christ. The Second Vatican Council states
clearly and emphatically that this division "damages the most holy cause
of preaching the Gospel to all men, and it impedes many from embracing the
faith." [Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity Ad Gentes, 6;
cf. Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 1] For this reason (…)
we considered it necessary to recall to all the faithful of the Catholic
world that "before all men can be brought together and restored to the
grace of God our Father, communion must be reestablished between those who by
faith have acknowledged and accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord of mercy who
sets men free and unites them in the Spirit of love and truth."[Bull Apostolorum
Limina, VII] At this point we wish to emphasize the sign of unity
among all Christians as the way and instrument of evangelization.
78. HERALDS AND SERVANTS OF TRUTH. (…)
The Gospel entrusted to us is also the word of truth. A truth which liberates
[126] and which alone gives peace of heart is what people are looking for
when we proclaim the Good News to them. The truth about God,
about man and his mysterious destiny, about the world; the
difficult truth that we seek in the Word of God and of which, we repeat, we
are neither the masters nor the owners, but the
depositaries, the heralds and the servants. (…) Men of learning -
whether you be theologians, exegetes or historians - the work of
evangelization needs your tireless work of research, and also care and tact in
transmitting the truth to which your studies lead you but which is always
greater than the heart of man, being the very truth of God. Parents and
teachers, your task - and the many conflicts of the present day do not make
it an easy one - is to help your children and your students to discover
truth, including religious and spiritual truth.
79. SIGNS OF LOVE. The work of
evangelization presupposes in the evangelizer an ever increasing love for
those whom he is evangelizing. That model evangelizer, the Apostle Paul,
wrote these words to the Thessalonians, and they are a program for us all:
"With such yearning love we chose to impart to you not only the gospel
of God but our very selves, so dear had you become to us." [1 Thess
2:8; cf. Phil 1:8] What is this love? It is much more than that of a
teacher; it is the love of a father; and again, it is the love of a mother.
[128] It is this love that the Lord expects from every preacher of the
Gospel, from every builder of the Church. A sign of love will be the concern
to give the truth and to bring people into unity. Another sign
of love will be a devotion to the proclamation of Jesus Christ,
without reservation or turning back.
Let us add some other signs of this love. The first is respect
for the religious and spiritual situation of those being evangelized. Respect
for their tempo and pace; no one has the right to force them excessively.
Respect for their conscience and convictions, which are not to be treated in
a harsh manner. Another sign of this love is concern not to wound the
other person, especially if he or she is weak in faith, [129] with statements
that may be clear for those who are already initiated but which for the
faithful can be a source of bewilderment and scandal, like a wound in the
soul. Yet another sign of love will be the effort to transmit to Christians
not doubts and uncertainties born of an erudition poorly assimilated but certainties
that are solid because they are anchored in the Word of God. The faithful
need these certainties for their Christian life; they have a right to them,
as children of God who abandon themselves entirely into His arms and to the
exigencies of love.
Questions for reflection and discussing in fraternity
1. How can we “cooperate” with the Holy Spirit in our specific
mission of evangelizing?
2. Does unity among Christians mean “uniformity” or can diversity
also be a sign of vitality and enrichment?
3. Pope Paul VI speaks about “signs of love” which we always should
give in our mission of evangelizing. Can you share your experiences of
practicing these signs of love with your brothers and sisters in fraternity?
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Topic 9 of 9: Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reflection by Fr. Amando Trujillo
Cano, TOR
On the morning of December 9, 1531, Cuauhtlatoatzin – an indigenous Aztec
who received the baptismal name of Juan Diego, went from his native town of
Cuautitlan to the market city of Tlatelolco, near the Aztec capital of
Tenochtitlan (where Mexico City is presently located), to attend Mass and
catechesis, as was his custom. The route was several miles long and passed
through the hill of Tepeyac, located then on the outskirts of the city, where
a temple to Tonantzin, the Aztec mother goddess, had previously been located.
Passing through the Tepeyac, his ears heard “the song of many precious birds”
which attracted him to the top of the hill and made him feel like he was “in
the land of heaven” of his ancestors. Then the singing stopped and he began
to hear a voice in Nahuatl, his native language, calling him up to the top:
"Juan Diego, dearest Juan Diego!" Finally, he saw a
"maiden" whose dress "shone like the sun", inviting him
to come near and saying:
Listen, Juan, my dearest and
youngest son, where are you going?"…"Know, know for sure, my
dearest, littlest, and youngest son, that I am the perfect and ever Virgin
Holy Mary, Mother of the God of truth through Whom everything lives, the Lord
of all things near us, the Lord of heaven and earth. I want very much to have
a little house built here for me, in which I will show Him, I will exalt Him
and make Him manifest. I will give Him to the people in all my personal love,
in my compassion, in my help, in my protection: because I am truly your
merciful Mother, yours and all the people who live united in this land and of
all the other people of different ancestries, my lovers, who love me, those
who seek me, those who trust in me. Here I will hear their weeping, their
complaints and heal all their sorrows, hardships and sufferings. And to bring
about what my compassionate and merciful concern is trying to achieve, you
must go to the residence of the Bishop of Mexico and tell him that I sent you
here to show him how strongly I wish him to build me a temple here on the
plain; you will report to him exactly all you have seen, admired and what you
have heard. (Antonio Valeriano, Nican Mopohua vv. 23, 26-33)
 So begins
the fascinating story of the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe (December
9, 10, 12), the encounter between the “Mother of the God of truth through
Whom everything lives” and the inhabitants of “this land”, in which a mestizo
civilization was emerging with great labor pains, but from then on
illuminated with the dawn from on high (Lk 1:78), the Son of Mary. The history
of the New World had reached a decisive point ten years earlier, on August
13, 1521, with the fall of Tenochtitlan to the troops of Hernan Cortes and
his allies - indigenous peoples who had been subjugated by the Aztecs and
forced to pay heavy taxes. The Aztec people had the most developed culture in
Mesoamerica although they nonetheless sacrificed prisoners of war out of
their belief that the blood offered to the gods allowed the sun to continue
its course and rise every morning. The first government of New Spain – the
First Audience – appointed by the Spanish King Charles V in 1528, was led by
Nuno de Guzman, who was cruel and ruthless towards the natives. The treatment
received by the indigenous complicated greatly the evangelizing task of the
missionaries and led to a volatile social environment susceptible to
insurrection. In the same year, the King appointed the Franciscan Fray Juan
de Zumarraga, as the first Bishop of Mexico City and defender of the Indians.
The apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Juan Diego remind us that
God chooses the meek and the humble to do His work of
salvation. Juan Diego considered himself unworthy of the mission entrusted to
him by the Virgin but accepted it and, when faced with difficulties, learned
to trust in the maternal love of Mary. Thus, he did his part in extending the
Kingdom of God. Like him, we are also called to take on our responsibility to
evangelize our society and to build a civilization of love in spite of the
difficulties we encounter. We are called to trust in Jesus, who has sent us,
and in Mary, who accompanies us. When Juan Diego was worried about his ill
uncle, Juan Bernardino, the Virgin of Guadalupe assured him with words of
love and encouragement, words that she speaks to us as well:
Listen, put it into your heart, my youngest and dearest son, that the thing that
disturbs you, the thing that afflicts you, is nothing. Do not let your countenance,
your heart be disturbed. Do not fear this sickness of your uncle or any other
sickness, nor anything that is sharp or hurtful. Am I not here, I, who am
your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source
of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my
arms? Do you need anything more? (Antonio Valeriano, Nican Mopohua vv.
118-119)
 On that
same day, December 12, 1531, the Virgin told Juan Diego to carry some roses
to the bishop, who had asked for a sign from her. Juan Diego cut the roses on
the hill, strangely present at that time of year, and put them in his cloak
or tilma. When he showed them to the bishop, all were surprised to discover
the image of the Virgin impressed on the tilma. This image is a true codex of
colors and shapes conveying a religious message with elements of indigenous
culture, by which natives were able to understand and accept the Christian
faith with amazing results. The Virgin of the Tepeyac clearly shows the
importance of Gospel inculturation in order to evangelize cultures. In
today's world, we too are called to proclaim the message of Jesus using
appropriate cultural elements to be well understood so that individuals and
peoples may be renewed from within.
The Virgin brought reconciliation and not division between the indigenous
and the Spanish. She helped them understand that the Christian faith is not
owned by anyone, but a gift of love for all. Her presence was decisive for
the evangelization of the "New World", playing an important role in
the national identity and history of Mexico, as it was the case during the
struggle for independence. However, the devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe has
gone well beyond this nation. Pope Benedict XIV, in the bull Non est
equidem, of May 25, 1754, declared the Virgin of Guadalupe to be the head
patroness and protector of New Spain and approved the proper Office and Mass
for her feast on 12 December. On August 24, 1910, Pope St. Pius X declared
her “Celestial Patroness of Latin America” and on July 16,
1935, Pope Pius XI extended the patronage of the Virgin to the Philippine
Islands. On October 12, 1961, Pope John XXIII announced a new Marian year and
proclaimed the Virgin of Guadalupe Mother of the Americas. On July 31, 2002, Blessed Pope John Paul II
celebrated the canonization of Juan Diego in the Basilica of Guadalupe. The
Pope taught us that, given the current culture of death, we find hope in the
Virgin of Guadalupe, the great promoter and advocate of human life. She
appeared pregnant to Juan Diego. The Indians understood that it was the
Mother of God who was visiting them. Therefore, the Church today calls for
her intercession to defend life against the genocide of abortion and all
other threats to human dignity and marginalized peoples. The message of the
Virgin of Guadalupe is a sign of hope for humanity in this change of era and
a call to participate actively and faithfully in the evangelization of new
cultures. We are reminded that we are not alone, as she keeps brining to us the
Light of the world. (Jn 8:20)
Service in politics
(II) (n. 569-574)
Introduction and questions by Fr. Amando Trujillo
Cano, TOR
This month, we
present the last six articles of the section Service in politics from the Compendium
of the Social Doctrine of the Church. These articles look at the diverse
aspects of discernment, a topic that was introduced last month, and which
aims to assist the lay faithful who are involved or want to get involved in
political activities from the stand point of their Christian values. This
section reminds the lay faithful that, considering the way in which the
democratic system works, they should carefully discern the content of
information, scientific research and economic decisions, as well as moral
issues regarding the sacredness of life, marriage and family. In order to
facilitate this discernment, the Compendium
offers some basic criteria and calls for the integration of natural values,
moral values and supernatural values. Another topic included in this section
is the moral responsibility of legislators regarding certain political
programs and individual laws that contradict “the fundamental contents of
faith and morals”. This segment also calls for a proper “distinction between
the political and religious spheres” and explains the role of the Church’s
Magisterium in instructing and illuminating the consciences of the
faithful. The Compendium also
points out the responsibility of the State to safeguard religious freedom and
the great danger of marginalizing Christianity from the social arena. This
section also deals with the importance of discernment when choosing political
instruments, such as parties, platforms, etc. In making these choices, the Compendium emphasizes the value of
both the personal decisions and the role of the Christian community in
analyzing each political situation and responding to it according to the
Gospel and guided by the Social Doctrine of the Church.
 569. … [I]n the functioning
of the democratic system, […]
discernment is particularly demanding when it is exercised with regard to the
objectivity and accuracy of information, scientific research and economic
decisions that affect the life of the poorest people. It is likewise
demanding when dealing with realities that involve fundamental and unavoidable
moral duties, such as the sacredness of life, the indissolubility of
marriage, the promotion of the family founded on marriage between a man and a
woman. In such situations certain fundamental criteria are useful: the
distinction and, simultaneously, the connection between the legal order and
the moral order; fidelity to one's own identity and, at the same time, the
willingness to engage in dialogue with all people; the need, in the social
judgment and activity of Christians, to refer to the observance of three
inseparable values — natural values, […] moral values, […];
supernatural values […].
570. […A] “ well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to
vote for a political programme or an individual law
which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals” [
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Note on Some
Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life (24
November 2002), 4: Libreria Editrice
Vaticana, Vatican City 2002, p. 9]. In cases where
it is not possible to avoid the implementation of such political programmes or to block or abrogate such laws, the
Magisterium teaches that a parliamentary representative, whose personal
absolute opposition to these programmes or laws is
clear and known to all, may legitimately support proposals aimed at
limiting the damage caused by such programmes
or laws and at diminishing their negative effects on the level of culture and
public morality. In this regard, a typical example of such a case would be a
law permitting abortion [Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 73: AAS 87 (1995), 486-487].
The representative's vote, in any case, cannot be interpreted as support of
an unjust law but only as a contribution to reducing the negative consequences
of a legislative provision, the responsibility for which lies entirely with
those who have brought it into being. […]
Christian witness is to be considered a fundamental obligation that can even
lead to the sacrificing of one's life, to martyrdom in the name of love and
human dignity [Cf. John Paul II, Post-Synodal Exhortation, Christifideles Laici, 39: AAS
81 (1989), 466-468]. The history of the past twenty centuries, as well as
that of the last century, is filled with martyrs for Christian truth, witnesses
to the faith, hope and love founded on the Gospel. [...]
571. The political commitment
of Catholics is often placed in the context of the “autonomy” of the State,
that is, the distinction between the political and religious spheres [Cf.
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 76: AAS
58 (1966), 1099-1100]. This distinction “is a value that has been attained
and recognized by the Catholic Church and belongs to the inheritance of
contemporary civilization” [Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in
Political Life (24 November 2002), 6: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City
2002, p. 11]. Catholic moral doctrine, however, clearly rejects the prospects
of an autonomy that is understood as independence from the moral law […] A
sincere quest for the truth, using legitimate means to promote and defend the
moral truths concerning social life — justice, freedom, respect for life and
for other human rights — is a right and duty of all members of a social and
political community. “… [T]he Church's Magisterium does not wish to exercise
political power or eliminate the freedom of opinion of Catholics regarding
contingent questions. Instead, it intends — as is its proper function — to
instruct and illuminate the consciences of the faithful, particularly those
involved in political life, so that their actions may always serve the
integral promotion of the human person and the common good […].
572. The principle of
autonomy involves respect for every religious confession on the part of the
State, which “assures the free exercise of ritual, spiritual, cultural and
charitable activities by communities of believers. In a pluralistic society,
secularity is a place for communication between the different spiritual
traditions and the nation”. [ John Paul II, Address to the Diplomatic
Corps (12 January 2004), 3: L'Osservatore
Romano, English edition, 21 January 2004, p. 3] Unfortunately, even in
democratic societies, there still remain expressions of secular intolerance
that are hostile to granting any kind of political or cultural relevance to
religious faiths. Such intolerance seeks to exclude the activity of
Christians from the social and political spheres because Christians strive to
uphold the truths taught by the Church and are obedient to the moral duty to
act in accordance with their conscience. These attitudes even go so far, and
radically so, as to deny the basis of a natural morality. This denial, which
is the harbinger of a moral anarchy with the obvious consequence of the
stronger prevailing over the weaker, cannot be accepted in any form by
legitimate pluralism, since it undermines the very foundations of human
society […].
573. A particular area for
discernment on the part of the lay faithful concerns the choice of political
instruments, that is, membership in a party or in other types of political
participation. A choice must be made that is consistent with values, taking
into account actual circumstances. In every case, whatever choice is made
must be rooted in charity and tend towards the attainment of the common good
[Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Letter Octogesima
Adveniens, 46: AAS 63 (1971), 433-435]
[…] Christians cannot find one party that fully corresponds to the ethical
demands arising from faith and from membership in the Church. Their adherence
to a political alliance will never be ideological but always critical; in
this way the party and its political platform will be prompted to be ever
more conscientious in attaining the true common good, including the spiritual
end of the human person [Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Letter Octogesima
Adveniens, 46: AAS 63 (1971), 433-435].
574. […] membership in a party
or in a political alliance should be considered a personal decision,
legitimate at least within the limits of those parties and positions that are
not incompatible with Christian faith and values [Cf. Paul VI,
Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens, 50: AAS 63 (1971), 439-440].
However, the choice of a party, a political alliance, the persons to whom
public life is to be entrusted, while involving the conscience of each
person, can never be an exclusively individual choice. “It is up to
the Christian community to analyze with objectivity the situation which is proper
to their own country, to shed on it the light of the Gospel's inalterable
words and to draw principles of reflection, norms of judgment and directives
for action from the social teaching of the Church” [Paul VI, Apostolic Letter
Octogesima Adveniens,
4: AAS 63 (1971), 403-404] […].
Questions for
reflection and discussion in fraternity
1. How have you experienced God’s call to get
actively involved in building a civilization of love in spite of the
difficulties?
2. What are the major political issues that impact your local
community? Your country?
3. Do you make the effort to become knowledgeable about political issues
and reflect on them in the light of the Gospel and the social doctrine of the
Church?
4. Does your fraternity discern appropriate positions and actions to take
in dealing with political issues?
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