Star of the New Evangelization
Posted by Sarah Reinhard in Faith on Friday, August 27, 2010 6:00 AM
“Look, Mommy! Look Daddy! Don’t they look like sparkly connect-the-dots?” We were late getting home and I was in a hurry to get in the house and get the kids to bed, but my four-year-old’s small voice – made big by her excitement – made me look to the night sky.
I had to agree with her. The stars did look like sparkly connect-the-dots.
I haven’t been able to go outside since without a reminder of the wonder of the stars. As the days get shorter heading toward autumn, I have more opportunities to see stars and the many things in my life that seem disconnected. I can look back and see how things have, over time, been linked and connected, as though there were someone connecting the dots.
I look skyward and think of how Heaven’s supposed to be “up there” somewhere. I see the stars and am reminded of how far away they are and of how far I am from Heaven.
In Mary, though, I have a link to Heaven. I can see her there, in the sky of my life, connecting the dots, when I can conquer my initial distrust of others, and overcome the distraction of how holy she is and how I’m not.
In her title as Star of the New Evangelization, Mary reminds me of my responsibility to evangelize, even as I sit in front of a screen, communicating with people I may never meet in person. She stands witness, as she always does, to the interior change necessary for evangelization, and she guides the way, connecting us together through the binding love of her Son.
New Evangelization
The New Evangelization embraces technology as a means for reaching out to the world. In it, we find new fervor in the new methods and expressions that are now available. What if the Apostle Paul had been able to blog? Better yet, what if Jesus had had a podcast? How would the development of Christianity have changed, given the new media we deal with every day?
Last year, in his Message for World Communications Day, Pope Benedict XVI urged, “It falls, in particular, to young people, who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication, to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this “digital continent”. Be sure to announce the Gospel to your contemporaries with enthusiasm.”
I heard this as a personal call. If we’re using new media – blogs, podcasts, Twitter, Facebook, or any of the others – then we have a responsibility to evangelize there, just as we do at the grocery store and in the library. By living our lives as Jesus called us—not by shoving faith down other people’s throats, but by being an example of His love—we experience the interior change. Humanity will not find itself renewed or revitalized until there are individuals who are renewed and revitalized, and we have to start with ourselves and our families.
Divine GPS
The stars were GPS for the sailors of many years ago, and Mary is our GPS when it comes to the New Evangelization. Her perfect knowledge of Jesus will lead us closer to Him, if only we let it. We can look to her example and find inspiration and revival.
She shows us how to become a witness, even as we strive to become teachers. As Paul VI shared in Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelization of the Modern World), “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (41). Before we can evangeliz and announce Christ, we have to become witnesses.
Who is Christ to me? What does Jesus mean in my life? How do I live with God in the ordinary moments of my everyday life?
I need only look up to the stars and think of the voice that brought them to my attention.
As the Body of Christ, we have to bring the Good News to all sectors of humanity and transform it. Before we find ourselves overwhelmed with the task, though, let’s turn to the Star who’s guiding us, who’s helping us face the new challenges of modern life with the tried-and-true practices of antiquity: prayer and faith.
Prayer to Mary, Star of the New Evangelization
Holy Mary, Star of the New Evangelization, make us the light of the world.
We receive Christ in the Eucharist; help us build the Kingdom in the world.
Teach us whatever He tells us. May our study of His life lead us to love Him, and our love for Him lead us to imitate Him.
If we are what we should be, we will set the world ablaze and affect the culture.
We ask your intercession to make this so, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
(From Catholics for the Common Good)
—Sarah Reinhard gazes at stars in the company of her two young daughters and husband. You’ll find more of her writing at SnoringScholar.com.
Resources:
- Message for the 43rd World Communications Day, Benedict XVI
- Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelization of the Modern World), Paul VI
- Our Lady of Guadalupe, Star of the New Evangelization, by Mother Adela Galindo
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