May 29 2020 - Pope St. Paul VI - The New Evangelization

Today and tomorrow, the last two weekdays of Easter, our Gospel passage comes from the epilogue and the very last chapter of John’s Gospel:  The Risen Lord Jesus sits on the shore of the sea of Galilee with his apostles, who instead of going out into the world to be fishers of men, had returned to their old profession of catching fish.

But he speaks with them, reminding them of their new mission, a mission which is characterized by love. Peter, do you love me? Then feed my lambs. Peter, do you love me? Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. Love of the Lord Jesus was to motivate and animate Peter’s mission, and the mission of all those who call themselves Christians. Love must always motivate us outward, propel us outward, direct our concern and activity outward.

Pope Benedict XVI writes in his first great encyclical on love, “ The entire activity of the Church is an expression of a love that seeks the integral good of man: it seeks his evangelization through Word and Sacrament, an undertaking that is often heroic in the way it is acted out in history; and it seeks to promote man in the various arenas of life and human activity.” How is the Lord asking me to love in a heroic way the people in my life: family, strangers, fellow parishioners?

Today the Church honors another one of Peter’s saintly successors, Pope St. Paul VI, who was Pope during the lifetime of just about everybody here this morning, save for me and the seminarian. The spread of the Gospel throughout the world was certainly one of the great themes of Paul VI’s papacy, inviting Catholics to engage in “the new evangelization”, a term he coined in his 1975 exhortation, “Evangelii Nuntiandi”,  a document Pope Francis called “the greatest pastoral document that has ever been written.

“For the Church, evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new… to bear witness that in His Son God has loved the world - that in His Incarnate Word He has given being to all things and has called men to eternal life… Evangelization will also always contain - as the foundation, center, 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

Love for our fellow man means concern for his eternal soul, which motivates our sharing of the Gospel with Him. Again, how is the Lord asking me to love today, love which involves sharing the Gospel, sharing the Good News, sharing the truth of God’s grace and mercy…for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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Let us pray to our Heavenly Father, confident that He is generous to those who call upon Him with faith.
For Pope Francis, and all the bishops: may they rightly lead the Body of Christ in the fullness of Christian truth. And that the Holy Spirit may guide the Holy Father in choosing a new bishop for the diocese of Cleveland, a bishop who is convicted of the Truth!
For our President and all elected government representatives, may the Holy Spirit grant them wisdom and guide them to promote domestic tranquility, national unity, respect for religious freedom, and a greater reverence for the sanctity of Human Life.
That the power of Christ’s resurrection may overcome all oppression, prejudice, hatred, addiction and injustice. For those most profoundly impacted by the coronavirus, for the healing of all the sick. For those who selflessly labor for the good of others, for the safety of first responders and medical care workers, police and firefighters. For the protection of all those who serve in our nation’s military, and for all wounded servicemen and women, for all those widowed and orphaned because of war.
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for those who have fought and died for our freedom, and for Dennis Dentzer for whom this mass is offered.
Gracious Father, hear the prayers of your pilgrim Church, grant us your grace and lead us to the glory of your kingdom, through Christ Our Lord.