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On Catholic Exchange there is a wonderful article entitled "When a Father Leads 12,000: Marian Consecration & Evangelization" by Dave McClow. I am always interested in the many different ways our fellow Catholics seek to enter into and live out the New Evangelisation first called for by Pope St. John Paul II. There is much in this article for anyone who loves the Blessed Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ:
Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades leads at least 12,000 Catholics in the diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, in the Marian consecration as part of the New Evangelization effort. In Part 1 I will primarily lay out the “what” of the consecration, and in Part 2 I will focus on the “how” of this very significant event.
The New Evangelization only changes the “who”—the baptized who have left the Church or who don’t know their faith—and the “how”—the methods used to get out the old message of the Gospel of God’s mercy. The New Evangelization seeks to deepen the faith of the baptized, to cultivate “a personal encounter with Christ.” A particularly well-known archbishop from Krakow, Poland, would call it “the enrichment of faith” and claimed that it was “the purpose of the Vatican II” and is “the basis of any realization of the Council and any renewal of the Church” (Sources of Renewal, p. 16). In case you missed it, he says even more emphatically: “This is the direction which should be followed by all pastoral action, the lay apostolate and the whole of the Church’s activity” (p.18). Vatican II was to address the duplicity or hypocrisy of Catholics not living out their faith well. The enrichment of faith should focus on “What does it mean to be a believing member of the Church?” (p. 17) and on forming “attitudes springing from a well-formed conscience” (p. 19). If we were to say it in everyday language, the purpose of Vatican II was to move our faith from our heads to our hearts so that we can live it out fully. It is a profound conversion and transformation, “making all things new.” Somehow I missed the memo on this purpose of Vatican II until Fr. Michael Gaitley pointed it out at the TOB Congress last month.
You may finish reading the article by clicking HERE please.
God bless us all with His peace in Jesus Christ the Righteous.
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