New Springtime Community
It has been suggested that the buttercup could be the logo or image
of the New Springtime Community
Talk 1: An Introductory Overview: A Year of Grace
Just over a year ago the Lakeland Revival was in full swing. Many people here in Ireland were praying for a new outpouring of the Spirit and his gifts so as to empower the new evangelisation. One morning, at the end of an Alpha management committee meeting just over a year ago, Paddy Monaghan, Helen Murray, Michael Fairley and myself spontaneously decided to spend time in prayer. We felt that we received a divine prompting to organise a time of prayer on four successive Sundays in order to ask for a new anointing of the Spirit and the guidance of the Lord. Those meetings were surprisingly well attended and in the course of the fourth it was agreed that the group should continue to meet for the foreseeable future on every second Sunday. In spite of some comings and goings, the meetings were well attended during the last year.
A Prophetic Text
At one point we spent time reflecting on Nehemiah 2 and 4 because we thought they had a prophetic significance right now..
· The walls of the church are breached by worldly compromises which have weakened faith and morals e.g.
the sex scandals in the church.
· The walls of our Christian lives need rebuilding through renewal brought about by evangelisation.
· There is rubble lying around and getting in the way i.e. our worldly attachments
· The enemy, i.e. the evil one, is attacking the church and its evangelisers by exploiting the rubble in our
lives.
· We need to encourage many intercessors to engage in spiritual warfare and prayer for the evangelisers who
are trying to rebuild the walls.
· Our protection is the sword of God’s word, the shield of faith, and the bugle of praise, the kind that
anticipates the victory of the Lord
Forming a community
At one point it was suggested that perhaps the group was evolving into a community. There seemed to be a general recognition that this indeed was the case. Then there was a suggestion by the ad hoc leadership team, that if the group wanted a raison d’être for its continued existence it needed to be a community for mission. This would require that the members clarify what they thought their main task was going to be. That led to a further suggestion that the Sunday night group might try to formulate a mission statement. When this proposal was accepted by the Sunday night group, a reflection process was facilitated over a number of meetings. It finally led to the formulation of a provisional statement which stated what the aims, values, and aspirations of the group were thought to be.
Comments on the Mission Statement.
The mission statement was timely and providential for a number of reasons. Archbishop Martin had declared that there would be 18 months of evangelisation in the archdiocese beginning on 29th June 2009. That announcement and formation of the Dublin Office of Evangelisation coincided with our own formation. A number of the members of the community were invited by Fr. Kieran O’Carroll to sit on the diocesan advisory committee for evangelisation. The church in Ireland is not only facing decline and many problems the country is enduring a deep seated recession which will probably cause many people to reassess their priorities and to be receptive to the kerygma.
Here are some personal observations on the mission statement.
In response to the great commission of Jesus and the Catholic Church’s call for a new evangelisation. (i.e. this is what motivates the MS)
We will, (declaration of intent) with the help of the Holy Spirit, (cf. par 75 of Evangelii Nuntiandi) engage in evangelisation ourselves, (It does not specify that it is a particular kind of evangelisation e.g. pre-evangelisation, kerygmatic evangelisation, catechesis, inculturation, interreligious dialogue, or action for justice and peace)
As well as teaching, training and equipping others who also desire to evangelise (probably the really distinctive aspect of the mission statement, because each one of us is called to evangelise in virtue of our baptism) those who have not yet developed an intimate personal relationship with Jesus as their Lord and Saviour (states that we will focus on kerygmatic evangelisation).
Values
1) By fostering unity of mind and heart and resolving conflicts as soon as they arise
We had many scripture texts about this in the first Glendalough meeting e.g. Ps 133:1-3; Phil 2:1-4, 14-16; 1 Cor 1:9-10; Acts 4:32-36.
Agreed action: We will refrain from critical and condemnatory thoughts or words about other members of the community while trying to edify and encourage one another whenever possible.
2) By rooting our activities in the word of God, regular periods of personal and communal prayer, faith sharing and celebration of the Eucharist. This is an attempt to point to some key points in our spirituality.
Suggested action: For example, we are already developing a TFM methodology, i.e. when we have a Talk, it will be followed by Feedback, and conclude with Ministry of some kind.
3) By cooperating with the local church, especially with bishops, priests and other religious leaders
Agreed action: whenever possible we will act with the support of the diocese e.g. the office of evangelisation, and of local pastors. By contributing to the formation of clergy with a view to facilitating effective evangelisation in their parishes. Many clergy are largely unaware of the importance and means of changing a parish from being inward to being outward looking and missionary. We need to help them to see the why and how of structural change in their parishes.
4) By accepting into the community members of other churches who share our vision. Ecumenism is an essential aspect of evangelisation, the importance of united witness.
Action: If an Anglican or Protestant wants to join us we will have to learn to change some of arrangements in order to make that person/s feel comfortable. Unity in essentials, diversity in non-essentials and in all things charity.
5) By being willing to contribute, according to our ability, to the financial needs of the community. While we will always believe that if we seek first God’s kingdom, by means of evangelisation, all else will be added to us, we will nevertheless do what we can to raise the money we need to carry out our activities e.g. by contributing 5 euro at each meeting.
Action: to appoint a bursar to keep an eye on finance. To charge for our services and to engage in some fundraising.
Priorities
1) By putting on practical courses that will teach lay people about the nature, motives and means of engaging in the new evangelisation. We will have a sort of school for evangelisation. Over a period of time we will not only train people to evangelise, we may, if the Lord wants it, design evangelisation tools for use by lay people.
2) By conducting research that would progress the new evangelisation and by publishing written and electronic resource materials
By conducting an annual Summer School on evangelisation.
Sometime after the formulation of the mission statement the members met here in Glendalough for a time of prayer and discernment. In many ways it was the gathering that gave birth to the incipient new community, which at the time was still nameless. Many of the points already mentioned surfaced at that meeting.
What’s in a name?
As you may recall, when we knew that our existence had been acknowledged by the diocese when we were invited to meet with the Archbishop as members of a new ecclesial community, we thought we had better get a name. When members submitted many suggestions they were whittled down to two by the four leaders. Who chose Cairde Iosa and New Springtime. As a result of a leading in prayer we chose the name by lot on board the Hope ship. The New Springtime was the Lord’s choice. However, I’d suggest that we sign our emails and letters either Cairde Iosa or Friend of Jesus.
It is worth recalling the following points to do with the community name. Speaking to a gathering of Catholic Charismatics in Nov. 1996 John Paul II said: “God is preparing a great springtime for Christianity, and we can already see its first signs." In The Coming of the New Millenium the pope stated this “new springtime of Christian life will be revealed …. if Christians are docile to the action of the Holy Spirit.” Similarly, in 1998 he said to U.S. bishops: “The new evangelization that can make the twenty-first century a springtime of the gospel is a task for the entire People of God, but will depend in a decisive way on the lay faithful being fully aware of their baptismal vocation and their responsibility for bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to their culture and society.” The notion of the new springtime has Biblical roots of a paradoxical kind. The Jews planted their seed in the Autumn when the early relatively light rains fell (That is what we would refer to as spring planting). They harvested the crops in the Springtime following the later relatively heavy rain (Cf. Deut 11:14-15; Joel 2:23-24; Jm :7). Some writers say, that reference to the early and late rains can be applied in a symbolic way to an initial and a later outpouring of the Spirit which will take place hopefully in the not too distant future, as a preparation for a great spiritual revival and the harvesting of a great number of souls for God by means of a new evangelisation.
Achievements to date
Already a number of worthwhile initiatives have been taken, e.g.
· The letters to the Irish Catholic and the Irish Times about a national day of repentance.
· Book launch in St Peter’s Phibsborough.
· The group that went to Galway to participate in the mission.
· The plan that was submitted to, and accepted by the Archbishop to run 6 Alphas.
The arrangements are already in place, community members to run these.
The Immediate way forward
Since choosing our name the leadership team have met on a number of occasions when it continued to seek God’s will and plan for the future. You have already received summaries of our plans from Helen.
- Community Plan for next 12 months
Goal setting - (1) Community life (2) Community Activities.
- Training courses by New Springtime Community - what courses to run for year
- Training for members of NSC specialising in special areas
- Contact with Diocese - Who will be contact person?.
- Contact with other communities - Tine etc. ( net working)
- Spirituality of the Group - Mission statement revised - Prayer & Fasting.
- Finances - appoint Bursar - suggest donation of €5 from each member at our fortnightly meeting to build up funds.
- Office address - Logo - ask Jane re setting up website
- Prayer Partners - Intercessors - back up to Community.
- Priests of Diocese together for Evangelisation
Speaking personally, I have found the last year to have been one of the most exciting I have experienced. I have had a constant sense that God was doing a new thing. It has been great getting to know and love you all, and to join together on this venture. May the Lord continue to bless our efforts on behalf of his kingdom.
Talk 2: Proclaiming the Kerygma: Foundation of Evangelisation
While the word evangelisation is not one that is used in everyday conversation it is frequently referred to in official Church circles.[1] It comes from Greek and means, “preaching the good news” i.e. about Jesus Christ. In par. 27 of Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI wrote,
“Evangelisation will also always contain - as the foundation, centre, and at the same time, summit of its dynamism - a clear proclamation that, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, who died and rose from the dead, salvation is offered to all men, as a gift of God's grace and mercy.”
As it is used in the church’s teaching the word evangelisation is used to describe a number of important and interrelated activities. As John Paul II pointed out in par. 18 of Catechesis in Our Time, evangelisation “is a rich, complex and dynamic reality, made up of elements or one could say moments, that are essential and different from each other, and that must be kept in view simultaneously.” Here are a number of the important elements.
1) Pre-evangelisation, refers to the presence and activities of Christians in non-Christian environments. By firstly witnessing to the Lord by means of such things as lives well lived and service to the local community e.g. in the form of health care, education, and action for justice, these Christians are engaging in remote preparation for the verbal proclamation of the gospel. It is a bit like a farmer ploughing the earth in preparation for the planting of the seed.
2) Basic or initial kerygmatic proclamation refers to preaching the core truths of faith about the saving power of the death and resurrection of Jesus to either unbaptised people, or baptised people who for all intents and purposes are unbelievers. It is the proclamation of the kerygma that ignites faith. As Paul said in Rm 10:17, “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the preaching [kerygma] of Christ.”
3) Didactic or catechetical instruction or teaching,[2] which builds on the basic truths by telling people more about their faith and the way it should be lived as disciples of Christ. Par 20 of Catechesis in Our Time we read, “the aim of catechesis is to be the teaching and maturation stage, that is to say, the period in which the Christian, having accepted by faith the person of Jesus Christ as the one Lord and having given him complete adherence by sincere conversion of heart, endeavours to know better this Jesus to whom he has entrusted himself: to know his mystery, the Kingdom of God proclaimed by him, the requirements and promises contained in his Gospel message, and the paths that he has laid down for any one who wishes to follow him.”
4) Evangelisation includes apologetics, i.e. rational argument that displays the reasonableness of faith. An apologist is someone who defends the legitimacy of Christian teaching from the criticisms and misrepresentations of its detractors. The late C. S. Lewis was a gifted apologist in this sense, whose book Mere Christianity was an outstanding example of this form of evangelisation.
5) Inculturation of the faith,[3] i.e., relating Christian truths to contemporary culture while at the same time changing the culture in the light of those truths. Pope John Paul II said in par. 52 of Mission of the Redeemer, that inculturation “means the intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in Christianity and the insertion of Christianity in the various human cultures.” In par 40 of The Coming New Millennium he added, “Christianity, while remaining completely true to itself, with unswerving fidelity to the proclamation of the Gospel and the tradition of the Church, will also reflect the different faces of cultures and peoples in which it is received and takes root.” In a way, that is really what the phrase “New Evangelisation,” means. While the content of the Christian message remains the same it needs to be new in terms of its methods and forms of expression.
6) Interreligious dialogue,[4] i.e., talking to people of other faiths in order to discover common ground and to demonstrate how Christian truth fulfils all that is best in those religions. In 1991 The Pontifical Council on Interreligious Dialogue said in Par. 3 of Dialogue and Proclamation that interreligious dialogue “is one of the integral elements of the Church’s evangelizing mission.” In par 3 of a companion document Dialogue and Mission, we read, “dialogue means all positive and constructive interreligious relations with individuals and communities of other faiths and are directed at mutual understanding in obedience to truth and respect for freedom.” In 2000 Cardinal Ratzinger said before he was elected Pope Benedict XVI, that Christians had to be careful to avoid a relativist position which would see their religion as merely one of many valid ways to God. In par. 5 of Dominus Jesus he said: “Only the revelation of Jesus Christ, therefore, “introduces into our history a universal and ultimate truth…..By this revelation then, the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man shines forth in Christ, who is at the same time the mediator and the fullness of all revelation.”
7) Action for justice and peace is also an integral aspect of evangelisation.[5] In par. 9 of Evangelisation in the Modern World, Pope Paul VI said that evangelisation consists among other things of, “liberation from everything that oppresses us.” In 1971 a Synod of Bishops said in par. 6 of Justice in the World that the social ministries of the church are an essential part of its mission, “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 Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church's mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.”
In this talk I am going to focus on the second point because it is the foundational. Unless people have experienced the liberating power of the kerygma the other forms of evangelisation will bear no fruit. Notice how the second part states clearly, that we will focus on those who have not yet developed an intimate personal relationship with Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. That could involve anyone in the following three categories of people
Churchgoers who are not yet fully evangelised in the sense that they have not fully o committed themselves to Jesus as the Son of God, the One who forgives their sins and fills them with an awareness of the length and breath, the height and depth of the love of his love which surpasses their rational understanding. As Paul VI said Evangelii Nuntiandi par. 15, “The Church is an evangeliser, but she begins by being evangelized herself…She needs to listen unceasingly to what she must believe, to her reasons for hoping, to the new commandment of love.”
The unchurched, i.e., those secularized Christians who only attend church on rare occasions. Raniero Cantalamessa has suggested, quite rightly I think, that many of these people are Deists rather than orthodox Christians because they tend to believe in a supreme being. Often these nominal Christians will espouse beliefs that are inimical to Christian belief such as reincarnation. Speaking about the unchurched, par. 8 of the Constitution of the Church in the Modern World says, "In the past it was the exception to repudiate God and religion to the point of abandoning them, and then only in individual cases; but nowadays it seems a matter of course to reject them as incompatible with scientific progress and a new kind of humanism." In similar vein, Paul VI said in par. 56 of Evangelization in the Modern World, “There are a great numbers of people who have been baptized and, while they have not formally renounced their membership of the church, are as it were, they are on the fringe of it and do not live according to her teaching.”
Unbelievers, i.e., atheists and agnostics, together with people who belong to non-Christian faiths who do not yet know Christ or his saving power.[6]
The Kerygma
The Second Vatican Council introduced the notion of a hierarchy of truth when it said, "When comparing doctrines with one another, they [theologians] should remember that in Catholic doctrine there exists a ‘hierarchy’ of truths, since they vary in their relation to the fundamental Christian faith" (Unitatis Redintegratio, par. 11). The kerygma, which is a word derived from Greek meaning “preaching” or “announcement” refers to the irreducible core of the Christian apostolic preaching. It would be true to say that the kerygma of the early church was rooted in Jesus’ proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God, i.e., the reign of God by means of the outpouring of his unconditional and unrestricted mercy and love in and through the ministry of Jesus Christ. Let me offer examples of what I mean.
Jesus and the kerygma
In Jn 7:48-49 we read how the temple police had been sent to arrest Jesus who was preaching to the poor, i.e. the uneducated, illiterate peasants who neither knew or observed the details of the Jewish law. They returned without their prisoner because they felt unable to arrest Jesus due to the sheer eloquence of his preaching. The temple authorities said to the police, "Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law- there is a curse on them [my italics]." In other words, the poor were under unending condemnation. They endured misery in this life and would continue to experience misery in the next. When Jesus enunciated his mission statement in his local synagogue in Nazareth he said that he had been anointed to bring good news to the poor (Lk 4:18). He told the congregation that the just condemnation of God had been lifted at this time of jubilee when all debts were cancelled. As he proclaimed in his beatitudes, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Lk 6:20).
He proclaimed the coming of the “kingdom of God” (cf. Mt 3:2, 4:17; Mk 1:15) or “the kingdom of heaven” (cf. Mt 13:44-45, 18:3)[7] in his words, e.g. the parable of the prodigal son. The younger son represented the poor who failed to keep the law, and the elder son represented the Pharisees who did abide by the law. The younger son felt he was under condemnation because he had failed to do the father’s will. The elder son believed that he had earned his father’s favor by being dutiful. However, Jesus said that both sons were mistaken. Both presumed that the father’s (i.e. God’s love) was conditional, whereas in actual fact it was unconditional. Both sons were invited to the kind of conversion that leads to a change in their thinking about God[8] and to trust in the offer of his unconditional mercy and love.
The story about the woman caught in adultery Jn 8:1-11, also captures the core of Jesus’ message. The Pharisees are out to trap him. The woman has been caught in the act of adultery. In terms of strict justice, the situation is clear. She was guilty of the offence, and Deut 22:23-24 stipulated that, as a married woman, she should be stoned to death. However, Roman law did not allow the Jews to execute a person for religious reasons. So they asked Jesus, what they should do. If he said, “stone her in accordance with the law” he would have been disobeying civil law and denying his own teachings on divine mercy (cf. Jn 3:17; 12:47). If, on the other hand, he said: “Don’t stone her,” he would have been contradicting precepts of scripture.
In the event, with wisdom, characteristic of Solomon of old, Jesus changed the whole focus of the debate by saying: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” In other words, if anyone present is innocent of sin, if he has never lusted after a woman in his heart (cf. Mt 5:27ff.) let him be the first to dispense justice. One by one, beginning with the eldest, all the men slinked away because, all of them had to acknowledge their own guilty secrets. Jesus and the woman were left facing one another. As St Augustine observed, she was the personification of miseria i.e. misery, while he was the personification of misercordia i.e. mercy.
Measured against his own criterion of sinlessness, Jesus had a right to stone the woman. But he didn’t exercise that right. In Jn 8:10 we are told that he asked: “Has no one condemned you? She said, “No one Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and do not sin again.” What wonderful, liberating words. Later on, they were to find an echo in Rm 8:1: “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” i.e., because of their faith[9] in him and the saving power of his death and resurrection.
Jesus manifested the reality of the good news he proclaimed by demonstrating it in his deeds, e.g., dining with public outcasts and sinners, and by performing healings, miracles and exorcisms esp. for the poor. So when we say that Jesus proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God,[10] we need to recall what John Paul II said in Redemptoris Missio par. 18, “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.” It was Jesus who revealed the incomprehensible love of his Father by his teaching, deeds and glorious death and resurrection, to see him is to see the loving kindness of the heart of our God.
The Apostles and Disciples Proclaim the Kergyma
We see from the Acts of the Apostles how the early disciples preached the core teachings of salvation in Christ to both Jewish and Gentile audiences. As Raniero Cantalamessa observes, in the beginning was the kerygma. It is what gives the church its origin.[11] C. H. Dodd wrote an influential book about the kerygma of St Peter as depicted in a number of passages in Acts. He said that typically it contained the following elements.
1. The Age of Fulfillment has dawned, the "latter days" foretold by the prophets
2. This has taken place through the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
3. By virtue of the resurrection, Jesus has been exalted at the right hand of God as Messianic head of the new Israel.
4. The Holy Spirit in the church is the sign of Christ's present power and glory.
5. The Messianic Age will reach its consummation in the return of Christ.
6. An appeal is made for repentance with the offer of forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, and salvation.[12]
St Peter preached an expanded version of the kerygma in Acts 4:8-12 when he proclaimed in the power of the Spirit:
“Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
For example, when Philip met the Ethiopian Eunuch he told him about Jesus as the lamb of God who, though he was innocent died for the forgiveness of sins. In Acts 8:36-38 where we are told that when Philip and the Ethiopian official “went along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?” In some Western manuscripts, Philip is said to have replied, “if you believe with all your heart, you may,” And he said in reply, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Paul and the kerygma
In his excellent book, The Central Message of the New Testament, Joachim Jeremias makes the interesting observation that, , “It was Paul’s greatness that he understood the message of Jesus as no other New Testament writer did. He was the faithful interpreter of Jesus. This is particularly true of his doctrine of justification. It is not of his own making but in substance conveys the central message of Jesus, as it is condensed in the first beatitude, ‘Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God’ (Lk 6:20).”[13] In a sense Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom anticipated that of Paul who would insist that we are saved, not by good works, but solely by grace as a result of our faith in the saving merits of Christ’s death and resurrection. For instance, as Paul said in Gal 2:16,
“know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”
In Rom 5:6-11 St Paul said,
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”
Another Pauline reference to the kerygma is to be found in Rm 10:8-9,
“‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith that we preach (kerygma), for, if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Communicating the Kerygma in Our Time
Some time ago Raniero Cantalamessa preached about the kerygma to the Pope and the papal court.[14] I was very interested to see that he said “Gratuitous justification by faith in Christ is the heart of kerygmatic preaching, and it is a shame that this in turn, is practically absent from the ordinary preaching in the Church.” He went on to note that at the time of the Reformation Luther, and later other Protestant reformers tended to say we are justified by faith alone. By way of reaction Catholics insisted that without works a person could not be justified. While one is not saved by good works, one cannot be saved without them. As Jm 2:23-24 reminds us, “ You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” As a result, of the 16th century split Catholics have often failed to emphasize the vital importance of faith in salvation. In 1999 this imbalance was corrected in a joint declaration on justification, of historic significance, which was published by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church. Par. 15 says:
“Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works.”
In many ways this is a succinct summary of the kerygma according to Paul. The same proclamation as we have seen was implicit in the preaching of the Apostles and Jesus.
When the good news message is proclaimed it invites the hearer to conversion, not so much in the form of turning from sin or changing one’s behaviour, although they are both important . The basic form of conversion is to believe the good news. As St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “The first conversion to God consists in believing.”[15] When I think back to my own religious awakening, the time when the glorious truth of justification by grace through faith in Christ’s merciful love first fell from my head to my heart, I was filled with a joyful gratitude for this amazing and unmerited grace. It is that grace that provides one with both the desire and the ability to turn away from sin.
The biblical kerygma was formulated in the context of the Jewish and Roman culture of the first century. Now our task is to communicate that same timeless message to the people of the twenty first century. One way I have tried to do this is by reading the account of the escape of Paul and Silas from the prison in Philippi. In Acts 16:27-30 we are told that, “The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" When I have stopped reading the passage at that point and asked people what they would say I have heard all kinds of responses such as, “live by your conscience,” “love your neighbor,” “do good and avoid evil,” “pray every day,” etc. What Paul and Silas actually said was, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household" Acts 16:31. If the jailer said, “Could you say a little more about this?” what would you say? Here is my tentative answer.
“We are all sinners who have been influenced by the spirit of evil. But Jesus has shown us, particularly by his death on the cross, that there is no need to be afraid of God’s punishments. Though very real, they are on hold, so to speak, until the day of judgment. Meantime we live in the age of God’s unrestricted and unconditional mercy and love. So if we acknowledge our sins with a sorrowful purpose of amendment and look only into the eyes of God’s mercy, expecting only mercy, we will receive only mercy, now and at the hour of our death. Afterwards we will rise to see the Lord, not as in a glass darkly, face to face in glory.”
It seems to me that all of us aspiring evangelists would all do well to write our own short version of the kerygma, one that would make sense to the people of our day. One way of doing this is to weave the message into one’s personal testimony because that gives it credibility and relevance. Such testimonies have three parts, what I was like before I heard the kerygma, how I heard and experienced the liberating power of the kerygma,, and what I was like as a result.
Kerygmatic Courses
Many of the evangelization courses that are common nowadays are in fact kerygmatic courses, e.g., the Life in the Spirit Seminars, The Alpha and Café Courses, Philip Retreats, Cursillio Weekends and the like. They aim to bring people into a personal relationship with Christ by enabling them to experience the power of the core teachings of Christianity in their lives.
1] Pope Paul VI apostolic exhortation On Evangelisation in the Modern World introduced the word to the Catholic faithful in 1975. John Paul II’s repeated use of the phrase, “new evangelisation,” consolidated the use of the word.
[2] Catechesi Tradendae, par. 18.
[3] Redemptoris Missio pars. 25, 37, 52-54, 76, Novo Millenio Inuente par. 40.
[4] Ibid., pars. 55-57.
[5] See Benedict XVI Caritas in Veritate, par. 15.
[6] While par. 16 of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church of Vatican II says without explaining how, that those who, through no fault of their own, have not heard of Christ live by their consciences and are not deceived by the devil, can be saved, but only with difficulty.
[7] The proclamation of the coming of the kingdom, i.e. basileia in Greek, is the central theme in the preaching of Jesus. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, says in par. 2816 that the word “kingdom” can be translated as "kingship," "kingdom" or "reign."
[8] It is worth noting that the Greek word for repentance is metanoia. It literally means “a change of mind.”
[9] It is interesting to note that in par. 51 of his encyclical Lord and Giver of Life, Pope John Paul II said that, “faith is the openness of the human heart to God’s self-communication in the Holy Spirit.” Notice that instead of being an assent of the mind and will to propositional truth it is intensely personal.
[10] Paul VI said in par. 9 of Evangelii Nuntiandi “As the kernel and centre of His Good News, Christ proclaims salvation, this great gift of God which is liberation from everything that oppresses man but which is above all liberation from sin and the Evil One, in the joy of knowing God and being known by Him, of seeing Him, and of being given over to Him.”
[11] “Prophetic Anointing” in The Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1994), 48. Cantalamessa’s observations on the kerygma are insightful and helpful.
[12] Here is a list of some of the passages that contain kerygmatic statements in Acts, Pentecost sermon (2:14-41); Peter in the temple (3:12-4:4); Peter in his first court trial (4:8-12); Peter and apostles’ Council trial (5:27-32); Stephen (7:1-60); Peter and Simon the Magician (8:18-24); Peter’s healing of Æneas (9:33-42); Peter and Cornelius (10:34-48); Peter and Cornelius (10:34-48); Paul at Synagogue in Perga (13:17-41); Paul in Lystra (14:15-17); Paul and the Philippian Jailer (16:30-34); Paul at the Æropagus (17:22-34); Paul and Johanine disciples in Ephesus (19:1-6); Paul and temple mob in Jerusalem (22:1-21); Paul’s trial before the Sanhedrin (23:6); Paul before Governor Felix (24:10-21); Paul testifies to King Agrippa (26:1-29); Paul with Roman Jews (28:17-29); Peter and Cornelius (10:34-48); Paul at Synagogue in Perga (13:17-41); Paul in Lystra (14:15-17);Paul and the Philippian Jailer (16:30-34); Paul at the Æropagus (17:22-34);Paul and Johanine disciples in Ephesus (19:1-6); Paul and temple mob in Jerusalem (22:1-21); Paul’s trial before the Sanhedrin (23:6); Paul before Governor Felix (24:10-21); Paul testifies to King Agrippa (26:1-29); Paul with Roman Jews (28:17-29).
[13] (London: SCM Press, 1965), 70.
[14] “The Righteousness That Comes From Faith in Christ” Vatican City, (Dec 16th 2005).
[15] ST I-II, q. 113, a. 4.
Talk 3: Motives for Proclaiming the Kerygma
In the first talk we looked at the nature of the kerygma. In the early Church there was a clarity to the evangelistic task facing the apostles and the disciples of Christ. They had to preach the core Christian teachings to the Jews and Gentiles. In contemporary Christianity things are not so simple. The vast majority of Catholics were baptized as infants[1] and confirmed[2] as children. From theological point of view, in receiving these sacraments of initiation they received new life in Christ. As a result, Catholics tend to believe that ipso facto, they have been evangelised and are in touch with the power of the kerygma. There is some truth in thinking this because undoubtedly the love of God has been poured into their hearts by the Holy Spirit (Cf. Rm 5:5). But it could be argued that reception of baptism, confirmation were sacramental events which were not necessarily experiential ones. The gospels tell us that a tree is known by its fruits (Cf. Mt 12:33). Often in the lives of Catholics the fruits of salvation are not clearly to be seen.
Typical Problems
There are at least three tell-tale problems associated with a lack of experience of salvation.
· Firstly, because in the post-Reformation period Catholics have stressed the importance of good works many of them tend to rely on personal merits rather than their faith in Christ for their salvation.
· Secondly, many liberal Christians believe that very few people fail to get to enter eternal life because they assume that the road to heaven is wide and that many take it. In doing so they ignore what Jesus actually said: “Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” Mt 7:14. As a result of ignoring this teaching of Jesus they fail to appreciate what is actually required in terms of faith and good works for salvation. While the Church does accept in par. 16 of the Constitution on the Church, that people who are not Christian can be saved there are many obstacles. If we have a heart for the lost, clearly we need to preach the kerygma to any of these people who are willing to listen in the belief that Jesus is the sole mediator between God and man, and that salvation comes only through him.
· Thirdly, there are many Catholics who live like baptised pagans in so far as their behaviour is not all that different than that of agnostics and atheists. For example, parish priests have noted the sad fact that many unmarried, un-practicing couples bring their children for baptism. Is this practice an expression of faith or a sociological phenomenon? Although candidates for confirmation get instruction prior to receiving the sacrament many of them cease to practice as soon as it is administered. Instead of being a rite of adult commitment to Christ the sacrament of confirmation frequently seems to be a rite of passage out of the church. As Pope John Paul II observed in par. 47 of Ecclesia in Europa, “Everywhere, then, a renewed proclamation is needed even for those already baptized (my italics). Many Europeans today think they know what Christianity is, yet they do not really know it at all. Often they are lacking in knowledge of the most basic elements and notions of the faith. Many of the baptized live as if Christ did not exist.” When the Ryan Report was published recently, I was very struck by the fact that the terrible abuse it uncovered was committed by religious priests, nuns and brothers. How could they have done such unloving things if they had truly been evangelised?
These facts would indicate that in the Catholic Church there is a kerygmatic crisis of head, heart and hands.
The Kerygmatic Crisis of Head, Heart and Hands
1. The kerygmatic crisis of the head has to do with knowledge. Many Catholics are neither aware that there is a hierarchy of religious truths nor the core teachings of the Christian faith. As I said in the first talk, if one reads the story of the Philippian jailer and asks the average Catholic to answer the all important question, “what must I do to be saved?” he or she usually cannot answer it in a satisfactory way. In other , intellectually they do not know the content of the kerygma.
2. The kerygmatic crisis of the heart has to do with experience. Even if some Catholics are aware of what the core teachings of Christianity are, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are consciously aware of their liberating power in their own lives. This could be due to a lack of personal faith, an unwillingness to turn away from sin, or some other personal reason. This lack of an experiential awareness of salvation in Christ is often evident in a lack of evangelical joy, which as G. K. Chesterton once observed is the gigantic secret of the Christian. Sadly, there are teachers in our Catholic schools who, although they teach religion to the children, fail to be credible witness to faith in Christ because they themselves have never come to experience his salvation in a personal way.
3. The kerygmatic crisis of the hands has to do with Christian ethics. If the truth of the kerygma has not fallen from head to heart, it is not surprising that nominal Catholics often fail act in a way that would be consistent with the teachings of Christ and his church. Over and over again I’m disappointed to see that in the areas of sex and money particularly, many Catholics espouse the easy morality of the secular world. Hence we have many Catholic couples living together before marriage. I can remember Fr. Kieran O’Carroll of the Diocesan Office of Evangelisation saying that when he was working in one Dublin parish where there were well over a hundred marriages in a year, all the couples were living together. Although the Church teaches that all forms of artificial birth control are sinful, the majority of Catholics use them. Sadly, many Catholic men, as we know, are addicted to pornography, e.g., on the internet. When it comes to money, Catholics can often be dishonest in their dealings with one another and the government. Besides that, there is considerable evidence of greed, e.g. the amount of money people are willing to borrow in order to purchase more goods and services.
In Evangelii Nuntiandi, par. 24 Pope Paul VI said, “the person who has been evangelised goes on to evangelise others. Here lies the test of truth, the touchstone of evangelization: it is unthinkable that a person should accept the Word and give himself to the kingdom without becoming a person who bears witness to it and proclaims it in his turn.” It seems to me that in spite of the universal call to evangelization, which is rooted in baptism, very few Catholics seem to make an effort to reach out to either the unchurched or unbelievers. Sherry Weddell of the Catherine of Siena Institute in the USA says that of those Catholics who practice in America only about 5% are intentional disciples of Jesus in the sense that they try to share their faith with others. The regrettable lack of effort by the majority may be due to the fact that so few Catholics are truly evangelised themselves.
Building on Sand
In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, as I said earlier, the authorities in the Catholic church tend to presume that all those who received the sacraments of initiation were evangelised. As a result they focus on catechesis, i.e. Christian teaching in the faith and discipleship which builds on the foundation stone of the kerygma. However, if people suffer from a kerygmatic crisis of head, heart and hands, catechesis is like a house built on sand. As Jesus warned, “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash" Matt 7:26-27. There is considerable evidence to show that when the winds of secular, hedonistic, materialistic values blew in recent years, many Catholics failed to stand firm as far as their Christian convictions were concerned. It was precisely because we were aware of this point in Alpha Ireland, that a number of us wrote a submission to a committee drawing up the Catechetical Directory for Ireland. In it we said that it would be important for the directory to point out that effective catechesis has to be rooted in a conscious experience of the power of the kerygma.
I noted in the first talk that evangelisation can mean many things. How can Catholics engage in effective apologetics, inculturation, action for peace and justice, or interreligious dialogue if they have not appropriated the message of the kerygma in a personal way?
Because the Church authorities mistakenly believe that sacramentalised Christians are also evangelised, they expect them to carry the yoke of Christian ethics e.g. to do with such things as avoiding divorce and abortion. While many un-evangelized Christians may have a dutiful desire to carry the yoke of Christian ethics, they do not have the power to do so, because that power only comes when the kerygma is experienced in a personal way. As a result, many Christians live lives of ethical defeat, disillusionment and condemnation. Consequently they associate Christianity with bad rather than good news.
Conclusion
When all is said and done, there is only one question worth asking, will I be saved or not? Will I enjoy the vision of God forever and therein find my ultimate fulfilment, or will I forfeit that destiny and slip into the unhappiness of eternal alienation from God and my from my true self in him? The hearing and acceptance of the Good News message contained in the kerygma is a prerequisite for salvation. Not only that, we have noted that the whole of the Christian life and the universal call to holiness through intentional Christian discipleship is rooted in the experience of the kerygma. So it is vitally important that we the members of the New Springtime Community devote ourselves, with God’s help, to carrying out our mission statement by focusing mainly on kerygmatic evangelisation, by engaging in it ourselves and by training fellow Catholics to do the same.
When we talk about the importance of our task, do not be surprised if some of our fellow Catholics accuse us of being Protestant. They will say that we sound like those who talk about being saved and born again. There is some truth to the accusation in so far as Protestants are right when they insist on the importance of the kerygma. However, our emphasis on justification by grace through faith in the saving merits of Christ’s death and resurrection is not Protestant it is Christian and grounded, as I have already indicated, in the clear teachings of the scriptures and the church.
[1] Par 1227 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church reads: “According to the Apostle Paul, the believer enters through Baptism into communion with Christ's death, is buried with him, and rises with him: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. The baptized have "put on Christ." Through the Holy Spirit, Baptism is a bath that <i style="">purifies, justifies, and sanctifies </i>[my italics].”
[2] Par 1285 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church reads: For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed."
Talk 4: Good News in Troubled Times
The scriptues say that without vision the people all likewise perish. In this talk I will try to read the signs of the times while answering the question, what on earth is Goddoing for heaven's sake? My reflections begin with a verse about the weather in the Holy Land. In Deut 11:14-15 we read the following divine promise, “then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil.” This undertaking consoled the Jewish people because there was a severe lack of water in Israel. God has fulfilled the promise right down to the present day. As we read in Joel 2:23-24: “Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains of righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.” Ironically the crops were planted in the rainy autumn season between September 15 and November 15. The crops matured in the rainy spring season between March 15 and May 15. When they ripened they were harvested.
The early and late rains are mentioned in the New Testament. In Jm 5:7 we read: “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.” Over the centuries the notion of the two rains has been understood in a symbolic way to refer to two interrelated anointings of the Spirit which precede the harvesting of a great number of souls for God.
There is a clear symbolic example of the early and late rain of the Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles. In Acts 2:1-41 we read about the metaphorical first rain which enabled the seed of Christianity to take root and to grow. Then when the early Church was being persecuted we read in Acts 4:23-31 about the metaphorical second rain. Peter and John had been interrogated and imprisoned because of their witness to Jesus. When they were released they went to the Christian community and told them what had happened. When the disciples of the Lord heard about the opposition they were facing from the Jews and Romans they prayed fervently to God: “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” What is striking is the fact that the disciples did not ask for a new outpouring of the Spirit. Instead they yearned first for God’s kingdom and his righteousness (Cf. Mt 6:33). As they ardently desired to carry out the great commission the second rain fell upon them when the Holy Spirit was poured upon them anew. That pattern has been repeated many times down through the centuries. I believe that we have already witnessed an early rain of blessing in the 2oth century and are currently awaiting the second rain which will lead to the harvesting of a great number of souls for God.
The Early Springtime Rain
As you are all probably aware, Pope John XIII prayed before the Second Vatican Council, "Renew, Your wonders in this our day, as by a new Pentecost. Grant to Your Church that, being of one mind and steadfast in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and following the lead of blessed Peter, it may advance the reign of our Divine Savior, the reign of truth and justice, the reign of love and peace. Amen." In par. 12 the Church’s document on the Church there was mention of the role of the charisms mentioned in 1 Cor 12:8-
The Winter of Discontent
A Winter of discontent followed Vatican II. As early as Nov. 15th, 1972, Pope Paul VI suggested that difficulties the church was experiencing had a demonic dimension: “What are the Church's greatest needs at the present time? Don't be surprised at Our answer and don't write it off as simplistic or even superstitious: one of the Church's greatest needs is to be defended against the evil we call the Devil.” In that same year the Pope said the diabolic threat was internal as well as external. "The smoke of Satan,” he warned, “has entered the temple of God." Apparently he was alluding to the sins of Christians, to the devaluation of the moral law, and the growth of moral decadence.
Over the years the Lord has revealed in a prophetic way what is happening in the church and in the world and why it is happening. It is notoriously hard to know whether such messages come from God or not. However, there are some which have considerable authority because of the circumstances in which they were spoken, the acknowledged giftedness of the people who spoke them, and the way in which they evoked an answering amen of approval in the Christian community. On Pentecost Monday 1975 such a prophecy was given by Ralph Martin in St Peter’s Basilica, Rome, in the presence of Pope Paul VI. It seems to contain a number of distinct but interrelated points which are particularly relevant for the Church, especially in Western countries.
The Lord seemed to predict that a time of purifying darkness was about to afflict the Church.
“Open your eyes, open your hearts to prepare yourselves for me and for the day that I have now begun. My church will be different; my people will be different; difficulties and trials will come upon you…I will lead you into the desert…I will strip you of everything that you are depending on now, so you depend just on me.”
The Lord went on to say more about the purpose of the time of trial and purification. “You need the power of my Holy Spirit in a way that you have not possessed it; you need an understanding of my will and of the ways I work that you do not yet have.” It seemed as if the Lord were saying that before the second rain would come, the Church would go through a Winter period which is usually an arid period between the early and later rain.
Judging by all that has happened over the last 35 years or so, the first section of Ralph Martin’s prophecy in St Peter’s Basilica has been fulfilled. Many people have failed in the time of testing. For instance, in western countries practice rates, together with vocations to the priesthood and religious life have fallen rapidly. For instance, in 2004 only 15 men were ordained in Ireland while over 160 priests died. There also has been a decline in Christian morality. This is particularly obvious in the form of rising levels of violence, binge drinking, drug taking, dishonesty etc. The Ryan Report and the soon to be published report on clerical abuse in the diocese of Dublin over the years is a sad and shameful proof of unfaithfulness.
While all of this was happening, however, there has also been a growing minority of Christian men and women, some of whom are members of the new ecclesial communions that have sprung up in recent years, have not only remained faithful during the years of darkness, but have grown in age, wisdom, and grace. For example, they adhere to the teaching authority of the Church while refusing to water down religious truths in order to make them more acceptable to a modern audience. Nowadays there is a significant number of praying people who are firmly committed to Christ and who try conscientiously to answer the universal calls to holiness and evangelization.
Disruption and breakdown in the secular world
The prophecy given in St Peter’s in 1975 seemed to say that the time of darkness in the church would be followed by a time of darkness in the secular world.
“Days of darkness are coming on the world, days of tribulation.”
I have believed for many years that a time was coming when there would be great disruption and even breakdown in the secular world. Indeed I can remember saying something on those lines in Unveiling the Heart which was published in the mid 90s. At one point I suggested that,
“In the coming years it is possible that, as a result of growing irrationality and moral blindness, we may have to endure a time of economic and political disruption…No matter how painful the dislocation of society may be, it could lead many people to reject questionable philosophical and economic beliefs, just as it has already done in the former Soviet Union.”
As breakdown occurs it will have three predictable effects. It will tend to unleash the dark irrational aspects of the human unconscious. As unrest increases it will cause some people to say despairingly, “let us eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die!” (Cf. Eccl 8:15), and others to say, “let us seek the Lord while he may still be found” (Is 55:6). It now looks as if the predicted time of secular darkness has already begun in the form of collapsing financial institutions, a falling share price and the likelihood of a world wide recession or even depression. I suspect that it will be longer and more severe than politicians and economists expect.
I believe that God will use the darkness of the secular world for providential purposes. It is my conviction that the Lord has allowed the affliction of secular society for a purpose. As scripture says, “The Lord has led you … in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what is in your heart” Deut 8:2-3. Many of the un-churched and the unfaithful of our day are like the prodigal son of old, who left his father’s house to travel into an alien place where, apparently, he forgot about his religious upbringing and spent his money in an amoral pursuit of pleasures of different kinds. In Lk 15:14-15 we are told about an economic downturn that effected that foreign country, “After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.” Having endured hunger and humiliation the prodigal son, “came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father” Lk 15:17-18. It would not be surprising to find that many of our contemporaries will become so disillusioned with the false values that have led to the current economic downturn that they will become spiritual pilgrims who seek to recover Christian beliefs, values and attitudes that served them well in the past.
Purification followed by a new Springtime for the Church
This brings us to a third point in the prophecy. The Lord intends to use his committed followers, whom he has raised up and equipped during the church’s time of darkness, to evangelize those who will seek him during the time of darkness in the secular world. As the Lord said in the prophecy in St Peter’s,
“A time of darkness is coming on the world, but a time of glory is coming for my church, a time of glory is coming for my people…I will prepare you for a time of evangelism that the world has not seen.”
I was interested to see that Ralph Martin said in Goodnews (May/June 1999) that he had reason to believe that the fulfilment of the 1975 prophecy might not be too far off. He wrote:
“I believe that we are now in a time of visitation… we are on the verge of a significant action of God [my italics], an action that will function as a two edged sword, depending on our preparation and willingness to respond to the prophetic message we are being given. And is it not possible that the fullness of the “new springtime” will not come until we are first purified through judgement or chastisement, and awakened to the holiness of God?”
When this process is well advanced in the secular realm the Lord will bring in the new Springtime by means of widespread evangelization.
Conclusion
Pope Paul VI said in Evangelization in the Modern World:
“I earnestly exhort you to generously open your minds and heart to receive a large outpouring of divine gift, the Holy Spirit. May a new Pentecost descend on you so you will be spiritually renewed and continue on a new road to evangelical witness"
As this occurs, and we engage in Spirit filled evangelization we will be enabled to experience the new springtime that was often referred to by John Paul II. Ironically, it will be a time of harvesting, harvesting souls for God. Speaking to a gathering in Nov. 1996 the Holy Father said: “God is preparing a great springtime for Christianity, and we can already see its first signs." Speaking to the American hierarch in 1999 he said, “The new evangelization that can make the twenty-first century a springtime of the Gospel is a task for the entire People of God, but will depend in a decisive way on the lay faithful being fully aware of their baptismal vocation and their responsibility for bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to their culture and society.”[1]
[1] John Paul II, Springtime of Evangelization: The Complete Tests Of The Holy Father's 1998 And Lumina Addresses to the Bishops of the United States, (Rancho Santa Fe, Cal.: Basilica Press, 1999, 89
