Romans 1:1-7 / Luke 11:29-32
Yesterday, Pope Francis consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the New Evangelization.
We have heard this term so often "New Evangelization" and we may have a certain understanding of it.
Of course, evangelization means to preach the Good News of salvation.
Hence it is the mission of the Church to preach this Good News of salvation to the world.
Yet, the New Evangelization is also two-fold: it is for the Church as well as for the world.
The Church also needs this evangelization because we need to know, to experience and to live out the Good News of salvation in our lives.
In other words, we must be people of the Good News. And only then can we become proclaimers of the Good News to the world. And it is obvious that we can't give what we don't have.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul said that he was called and chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through His prophets in the scriptures.
But in just a couple more lines, he turned it around to the Romans and say that they too were called to be saints. In other words, they too have the mission to proclaim the Good News.
And where is it all going to start? From the gospel it is obvious that it must start with the repentance.
Jonah preached and the Ninevites repented. That was the sign. And repentance will be the sign that the Good News is bearing fruit.
We have the Good News. But let us be the first to repent. That will be the sign that the New Evangelization has started to take place.