Rediscovering the Catholic Faith

7/28/2019 Rediscovering the Catholic Faith

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Rediscovering the

Catholic Faith

Through the

Scriptures


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Some Preliminaries

1) Re-discovering?

2) Faith vs. Religion

3) Catholicity

4) The Scriptures


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Context:AUF Responding to the

Challenge of the NewEvangelization in the Year

of Faith


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The New Evangelization

is a Call to a Rediscovery

of the Catholic Faithis an invitation to lead

people to that Rediscovery


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How we can

Carry out a more effectiveTransmission of the Catholic

FaithBy leading people to an

Encounter with JesusIn the ChurchThrough the Scriptures


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OUTLINEIntroduction: Objective

1) Jesus & the Samaritan Woman

2) New Evangelization

3) Personal Encounter with Jesus

Christ in the Church4) The Occasions of Encountering

Jesus & Listening to the Scriptures


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Objective of Synod on NE:

To sustain and direct

the preaching and

teaching of theGospel


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in the diverse

contexts in whichthe Church finds

herself today to give

witness


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3 verbs related to the

Gospel:Preaching

Teaching

To give witness


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Paul VI, 1975

Modern man listens

more willingly towitnesses than to

teachers


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and if he does

listen to teachers, itis because they are

witnesses.


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GREEK: marturia

Tagalog: Magpatotoo


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The Gospel remains the same.

It is the situations or

contexts for thewitnessing that

change.


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People find themselves in

different situations.

comparable to that of

the Samaritanwoman by the well.


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1) Jesus & the Samaritan Woman

John 4:5-42


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With an empty bucket

no man or

woman who, in

one's life, would

not find oneself

beside a well

with an empty

bucket,


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Umiigib ng maiinom upang

mapawi ang pagkauhawwith the hope of

finding the fulfillment ofthe heart's most

profound desire, thatwhich alone could givefull meaning to life.


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MEANING is

a universal issue

for whatever

race, color, orcreed


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It is as essential as WATER.

More precious

resource than

gold, silver,

diamonds,

copper, oriron.


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Today, many wells

offer

themselves toquench

humanity's

thirst


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but we

must discern

in order to

avoid

pollutedwaters.


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Same with meaning

What will give us

true happiness &

fulfillment in life?


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FM says,

We must orient the

search properly so asnot to fall prey to

disappointment, whichcan be damaging.


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Inspiration from THE LITTLE PRINCE?

The desert

is beautifulbecause it

is hiding awell


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TO EVANGELIZE is to be

like Jesus at the well of

SycharIt is to sit beside today's

men and women


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Highlights in the narrative:

a) Jesus asks

for a drinkhimself.

I THIRST!


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b) The woman

puts up a

barrier: You

are a Jew;

I am aSamaritan, a

woman


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Jesus twists the situation

If you only

knew youd

be the one

who would

ask for waterfrom me


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Womans reaction

You have

no bucket.The well

is deep.


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c) Jesus

offers afree-flowingwell (no

need for abucket)


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d) The woman

says,Give me

that water so

that I wouldnt

need to keepcoming back

to this well.


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Go, call your husband

Woman: I have

none.

Jesus: You areright


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e) His way of

saying, Youve

been living anempty life

Or: Youve

been drawing

from polluted

wells.


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The woman is surprised.

How did he know??

Later she would tell theother Samaritans:

He told me everything Ihave done. (i.e., He knows

me inside out.)


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When people see that we know or

understand

where theyre coming from,

they lay down their defenses.

You must be a prophet!


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A PROPHET (for the woman):

One who is able to allow God tospeak to peoples deepest

desires;One who is able to know what

is there that lies in their inmostthoughts (which they think aresecret)


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FM says:

Only Jesus can read

the depths of our heartand reveal the truth

about ourselves


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He told me everything I have

done

This word of proclamation

is united to the questionthat opens up to faith:

Could he possibly be theMessiah?


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Remember Zaccheus?


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Remember Nathanael?


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And Simon (Peter)?


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CONVERSION

To suddenly realize you are

before Gods Chosen OneTo be so overwhelmed by

the encounter, you go and

bring others to Him


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Otherswho are also

thirsting

like yourself.


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It begins with a wondering:

Could He bethe Messiah?


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Many people started following Jesus

because of this wondering.

John 6 (Bread ofLife)

Same sense asJohn 4 butdifferentmetaphor: Food

People followhim, hungering forbread.


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Jesus tells them:

Do not seek the bread thatperishes

Seek rather the LivingBread; I am the Living

Bread(parallel to Jn 4: Living Water)


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FM says (of the Samaritan

woman)whoeverreceives new

life from encounteringJesus

cannot but proclaim truthand hope to others.


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The sinner who was

converted becomesa messenger of

salvation and leads

the whole city toJesus.


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Like the fisherman who says

Leave me,

Lord, I am a

sinner!

Whom Jesus

now turns into a

fisher of men.


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The DISCIPLE

becomes an APOSTLE:

one who is chosenfrom the disciples and

becomes one who issent.


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The FM further says,

The people pass

from welcoming

her testimony topersonally

experiencing the

encounter


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(John 4:42) They say:

We no longer believe

because of your word; forwe have heard for

ourselves, and we know

that this is truly the saviorof the world.


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What being evangelized is about:

Recall the two questions

posed to the disciples (Mark8:27-30):

Who do people say

Who do you say


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The Growth into full maturity

of the community of

disciples into a communityof apostles is what we

desire for the Philippine

Church (PCP II: renewedintegral evangelization).


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We have heard and we know

that this truly is the SAVIOR OF THE

WORLD

That he alone can lead us to the

well, to the water weve been

looking for.CONVERSION = to declare, I have

found the well!


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1 John 1:1ffWe declare to you what was

from the beginning,

what we have heard,what we have seen with our eyes,

what we have looked at andtouched with our hands,

concerning the word of life


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2. A New Evangelization

Leading the men and

women of our time toJesus,to the encounter

with him


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is a necessity that

touches all the

regions of the world,those of the old and

those of the recentevangelization.


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Then and Now:

We address thecommon longing for the

encounter with theLiving Water (the free-

flowing well).


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The FM, further says:

Everywhere indeed

we feel the need torevive a faith that risks

eclipse in culturalcontexts that hinder


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(Note the shift in imagery.)

its taking root inpersons and

its presence insociety,

the clarity of itscontent and

the coherence of itsfruits.


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SHIFT

from thedrawer of

water andthe well

to the sowerand theseed.


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The faith has been sown

Has it taken

root?Is it

growing?

Is it bearing

fruit?


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Mark 4: Parable of the Sower

What is preventing

the seed from takingroot, growing, and

bearing fruit?


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The sowing presupposes the earlier

tasks

of plowing,

weeding,

irrigating,

fertilizing to

make sure theseed falls on

good soil.


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What is the good soil

on which the seed of theGospel must fall?

The seed of faith grows only

on the good soil of hope andcharity/ love. (1 Cor 13)


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The seed of the Gospel can grow

wherever we find

people who arehopeful and are

disposed to loveunconditionally.


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Recall VDs definition of FAITH:

The human response

to the God who speaksto usthe God who

loved us first


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If the good soil does not yet exist

then evangelization

requires soil preparation:the plowing, the weeding,

the irrigating, the

fertilizing


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FM:

NE is not a matter of starting

again, but of entering into the long

path of proclaiming the Gospel withthe apostolic courage of Paul who

would go so far as to say:

Woe to me if I do not preach the

Gospel! (1 Corinthians 9:16).


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It includes accepting

that there are no shortcuts:

We need to be patient.NB. The parable of the

seed that grows slowly.


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REVIEW HISTORY:

Throughout history, from

the first centuries of theChristian era to the present,

the Gospel has edified

communities of believers in

all parts of the world.


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Whether small or great,these are the fruit of the

dedication of generationsof witnesses to Jesusmissionaries andmartyrs whom weremember with gratitude.

Th h d i l lt l i


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The changedsocial, cultural, economic,

civil and religious scenarios

call us to something new:

to live our communitarian experience

of faith in a renewed way and to proclaim it through an

evangelization that is new

in its ardor,

in its methods,

in its expressions as John Paul II said.

P B di t XVI (i hi h il t


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Pope Benedict XVI (in his homily at

the Synods Inauguration) said,

The New evangelization isdirectedprincipally at those

who, though baptized,have drifted away from the

Church and

live without reference to theChristian life...


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to help these people encounter theLord,

who alone fills our existence with deep

meaning and peace; and

to favor the rediscovery of the faith,

that source of grace which brings

joy and hope to

personal, family and social life

3 P l t ith J


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3. Personal encounter with Jesus

Christ in the Church:

Before saying anything about the formsthat this new evangelization mustassume,

we feel the need to tell you withprofound conviction that

the faith determines everything in the

relationship that we build with the person ofJesus who takes the initiative toencounter us.

The ork of the ne e angeli ation


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The work of the new evangelization

consists in

presenting once more the beauty

and perennial newness of the

encounter with Christto the often distracted and

confused heart and mind of the

men and women of our time,

above all to ourselves.

We invite you all to contemplate the


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We invite you allto contemplate the

face of the Lord Jesus Christ,

to enter the mystery of his life

given for us on the cross,

reconfirmed in his resurrection

from the dead as the Father's gift

and imparted to us through the Spirit.


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In the person of Jesus,

the mystery of God the Father's love

for the entire human family is

revealed.He did not want us to remain in a false

autonomy. Rather

he reconciled us to himself in a renewedpact of love.

The Church is the space offered by


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The Church is the space offered by

Christ in history

where we can encounter him, because heentrusted to her his Word,

the Baptism that makes us God's children, his Body and his Blood,

the grace offorgiveness of sins above all in thesacrament of Reconciliation,

the experience ofcommunion that reflects the

very mystery of the Holy Trinity and the strength of the Spirit that generates charity

towards all.

We m st form elcoming comm nities in


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We must form welcoming communities in

which all outcasts find

a home,

concrete experiences of communion

which attract the disenchanted glance ofcontemporary humanity with the ardent

force of love

See how they love one another!

(Tertullian, Apology, 39, 7).

The beauty of faith must


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The beauty of faith must

particularly shine

in the actions of the sacred Liturgy,

above all in the Sunday Eucharist.

It is precisely in liturgical celebrationsthat

the Church reveals herself as God's

work andmakes the meaning of the Gospel

visible in word and gesture.


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It is up to us today

to render experiences of theChurch concretely accessible,

to multiply the wellswhere thirsting men and women

are invited to encounter Jesus,

to offer oases in the deserts oflife.

Christian communities (and, in them,


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(

every disciple of the Lord) are

responsible for this:an irreplaceable testimony has

been entrusted to each one,

so that the Gospel can enter

the lives of all.

This requires of us holiness oflife.

4 Th i f


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4. The occasions of

encountering Jesus

andlistening to the

Scriptures

Someone will ask how to do


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Someone will askhow to do

all this

We need not invent new strategies as if

the Gospel were a product to be placed

in the market of religions.We need to rediscover the ways in

which Jesus approached persons and

called them, in order to put these approaches into

practice in today's circumstances.


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We recall, for example,

how Jesus engaged

Peter, Andrew, Jamesand John in the

context of their work,


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how Zaccheus was able

to pass from simplecuriosity to the warmth of

sharing a meal with the

Master,


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how the Roman

centurion asked him toheal a person dear to

him,


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how the man born

blind invoked him asliberator from his own

marginalization,


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how Martha and Mary

saw the hospitality of theirhouse and of their heart

rewarded by his

presence.

B i h h


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By going through

the pages of the Gospels as well as

the apostles' missionary

experiences in the early Church,we can discover

the various ways and

circumstances in which persons'

lives were opened to Christ's

presence.

The frequent reading of the Sacred


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The frequent reading of the Sacred

Scriptures is

not only necessary for

knowing the very content of

the Gospel,

which is the person of Jesus

in the context of salvationhistory,


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It also helps us to discover

opportunities to encounter Jesus,

truly evangelical approaches rooted in

the fundamental dimensions of humanlife:

the family, work, friendship,

various forms of poverty and the trials of life, etc.

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Rediscovering the Catholic Faith