CHAPTER THREE

PROCLAIMING
THE GOSPEL OF HOPE

“Go, take the scroll which is open ...
take it and eat” (Rev 10:8.9)

I. Proclaiming the mystery of Christ

Revelation gives meaning to history

44. The vision of the Book of Revelation tells us of “a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals” and held “in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne” (Rev 5:1). This writing contains the God's plan of creation and salvation, his detailed design for all things, for persons, things and events. No created being, on earth or in heaven, is able to “open the scroll or to look into it” (Rev 5:3) so as to understand its contents. In the confusion of human affairs, no one is able to declare the unfolding of the future and the ultimate meaning of things.

Only Jesus Christ gains possession of the sealed scroll (cf. Rev 5:6-7); only he is “worthy to take the scroll and open its seals” (Rev 5:9). Only Jesus is able to reveal and bring about the plan of God hidden therein. Left to himself, man is not capable of giving meaning to history and to human affairs: life remains without hope. Only the Son of God is able to dispel the shadows and to show the way.

The open scroll is given to John and, through him, to the whole Church. John is told to take the book and to eat it: “Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land ... take it and eat it” (Rev 10:8-9). Only when he has assimilated it deeply will he be able to communicate it properly to others, to whom he is sent with the order to “prophesy about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings” (Rev 10:11).

The urgent need for proclamation

45. The Gospel of hope, received and assimilated by the Church, calls for daily proclamation and witness. This is the proper vocation of the Church in every time and place. It is also the mission of the Church in Europe today. For “evangelizing is the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. The Church exists in order to evangelize, that is to say in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ's sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of his death and glorious Resurrection”.⁷⁷

Church in Europe, the “new evangelization” is the task set before you! Rediscover the enthusiasm of proclamation. Hear today, addressed to you at the beginning of this third millennium, the plea heard at the beginning of the first millennium, when a man of Macedonia appeared in a vision to Paul and begged him: “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” (Acts 16:9). Even if it remains unexpressed or even repressed, this is the most profound and genuine plea rising from the hearts of Europeans today, who yearn for a hope which does not disappoint. This hope has been bestowed on you as a gift which must then be joyfully given away in every time and place. Let the proclamation of Jesus, which is the Gospel of hope, be your boast and your whole life. Carry on with renewed zeal in the same missionary spirit which, down these twenty centuries, beginning with the preaching of the Apostles Peter and Paul, has inspired so many holy men and women, the Saints who were authentic evangelizers of the European continent.

A first proclamation and a renewed proclamation

46. In various parts of Europe a first proclamation of the Gospel is needed: the number of the unbaptized is growing, both because of the significant presence of immigrants of other religions and because children born into families of Christian tradition have not received Baptism, either as a result of the Communist domination or the spread of religious indifference.⁷⁸ Indeed, Europe is now one of those traditionally Christian places which, in addition to a new evangelization, require in some cases a first evangelization.

The Church cannot shirk the responsibility of making a courageous diagnosis which will make it possible to decide on appropriate therapies. On the “old” continent too, there are vast social and cultural areas which stand in need of a true missio ad gentes.⁷⁹

47. Everywhere, then, a renewed proclamation is needed even for those already baptized. Many Europeans today think they know what Christianity is, yet they do not really know it at all. Often they are lacking in knowledge of the most basic elements and notions of the faith. Many of the baptized live as if Christ did not exist: the gestures and signs of faith are repeated, especially in devotional practices, but they fail to correspond to a real acceptance of the content of the faith and fidelity to the person of Jesus. The great certainties of the faith are being undermined in many people by a vague religiosity lacking real commitment; various forms of agnosticism and practical atheism are spreading and serve to widen the division between faith and life; some people have been affected by the spirit of an immanentist humanism, which has weakened the faith and often, tragically, led to its complete abandonment; one encounters a sort of secularist interpretation of Christian faith which is corrosive and accompanied by a deep crisis of conscience and of Christian moral practice.⁸⁰ The great values which amply inspired European culture have been separated from the Gospel, thus losing their very soul and paving the way for any number of aberrations.

“When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk 18:8). Will he find faith in our countries, in this Europe of ancient Christian tradition? This is an open question which clearly reveals the depth and the drama of one of the most serious challenges which our Churches are called to face. It can be said as the Synod emphasized that this challenge frequently consists not so much in baptizing new converts as in enabling those already baptized to be converted to Christ and his Gospel: ⁸¹ in our communities we need to be seriously concerned about bringing the Gospel of hope to all those who are far from the faith or who have abandoned the practice of Christianity.

Fidelity to the one message

48. Proclaiming the Gospel of hope calls for steadfast fidelity to the Gospel itself. The Church's preaching, in all its forms, must be increasingly centred on the person of Jesus and increasingly converge on him. Vigilant care must be taken that Christ is presented in his fullness: not merely as an ethical model, but above all as the Son of God, the one, necessary Saviour of all, who lives and is at work in his Church. If our hope is to be true and unshakable, “an integral, clear and renewed preaching of the Risen Christ, the resurrection and eternal life” ⁸² must be a priority for pastoral activity in coming years.

Although the Gospel to be preached is the same in every time, this preaching can be carried out in different ways. All are called to “proclaim” Jesus and their faith in him in every situation; to “draw” others to the faith through models of personal, family, professional and community life which reflect the Gospel; “to radiate” joy, love and hope, so that many people, seeing our good works, will give glory to our Father in heaven (cf. Mt 5:16) and be won over; to become “a leaven” transforming and enlivening from within every expression of culture.⁸³

By the witness of life

49. Europe calls out for credible evangelizers, whose lives, in communion with the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, radiate the beauty of the Gospel.⁸⁴ Such evangelizers must be properly trained.⁸⁵ Now more than ever a missionary consciousness is needed in all Christians, beginning with Bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, catechists and teachers of religion: “All the baptized, since they are witnesses of Christ, should receive a training appropriate to their circumstances, not only so that their faith does not wither for lack of care in a hostile environment such as the secularist world, but also so that their witness to the Gospel will receive strength and inspiration”.⁸⁶

Our contemporaries “listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if they do listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses”.⁸⁷ The presence and the signs of holiness are thus decisive: holiness is the essential prerequisite for an authentic evangelization capable of reviving hope. What is needed are forceful, personal and communal testimonies of new life in Christ. It is not enough that truth and grace are offered through the proclamation of the word and the celebration of the sacraments; they need to be accepted and experienced in every practical situation, in the way Christians and ecclesial communities lead their lives. This is one of the greatest challenges set before the Church in Europe at the beginning of the new millennium.

Training for an adult faith

50. “Europe's cultural and religious situation today calls for the presence of Catholics who are adult in their faith and for missionary Christian communities who testify to God's love before all mankind”.⁸⁸ The proclamation of the Gospel of hope thus implies a concern to foster the movement from a faith supported by social tradition, important as this is, to a more personal and adult faith, one marked by knowledge and conviction.

Christians are therefore “called to have a faith capable of critically confronting contemporary culture and resisting its enticements; of having an real effect on the world of culture, finance, society and politics; of demonstrating that the fellowship between Catholics and other Christians is more powerful than any ethnic bond; of joyfully passing on the faith to new generations; and of building a Christian culture ready to evangelize the larger culture in which we live”.⁸⁹

51. Along with ensuring that the ministry of the word, the celebration of the liturgy and the exercise of charity are directed to building up and sustaining a mature and personal faith, Christian communities need to work at proposing a catechesis adapted to the varying spiritual journeys of the faithful at different ages and in different life situations, and to provide for suitable programmes for spiritual accompaniment and for the rediscovery of one's own Baptism.⁹⁰ Naturally a fundamental point of reference in this commitment will be the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Given its undeniable priority in pastoral activity, there is a particular need to cultivate and, if need be, reinstitute the ministry of catechesis as a means of education and faith development for each individual, so that the seed planted by the Holy Spirit and passed on by Baptism can grow and reach maturity. In constant reference to the word of God, preserved in sacred Scripture, proclaimed in the liturgy and interpreted by the Church's Tradition, an organic and systematic catechesis constitutes beyond the shadow of a doubt an essential and primary means of forming Christians in an adult faith.⁹¹

52. In this same context, the important task of theology must also be emphasized. There is an intrinsic and inseparable link between evangelization and theological reflection, since theology, as a science possessed of a proper status and methodology, draws its life from the Church's faith and stands at the service of her mission.⁹² Theology is born of faith and is called to interpret faith, preserving its unbreakable link to the Christian community in all its different forms; as a service to the spiritual growth of all the faithful,⁹³ it introduces them to a deeper understanding of the message of Christ.

In carrying out her mission of proclaiming the Gospel of hope, the Church in Europe expresses esteem and gratitude for the vocation of theologians, she values them and supports their work.⁹⁴ With respect and affection I encourage theologians to persevere in the service which they render, to combine their scholarly research with prayer, to engage in attentive dialogue with contemporary culture, to adhere faithfully to the Magisterium and to cooperate with it in a spirit of communion in truth and charity, immersed in the sensus fidei of the People of God and helping to nurture it.