St. John Paul II was the pope who promoted and popularized the phrase: The “New Evangelization.”
In introducing the concept of the New Evangelization, the Polish Contiff stressed that it is a proclaiming of the Gospel with “new ardor, methods, and expression.”
This notion, fully embraced by Pope Benedict XVI, and now expanded by Pope
Francis to emphasize joy, should be a guide for our evangelical efforts and personal apostolic work.
The primary focus of the New Evangelization calls all Catholics to be evangelized and then go forth to evangelize others.
In a special way, the New Evangelization centers on “re-proposing” the Gospel to those who have experienced a crisis of faith or who have never seriously considered or even encountered the saving message of Christ Jesus.
To spark such a reimagination of how we might embrace this urgent call to action for our times, Pope John Paul II during his 26-year pontificate canonized 482 new saints, which included several
groupings of martyrs.
During his nearly eight-year reign, Pope Benedict XVI declared another 45 saints.
And to date, Pope Francis has raised to the altar 926 new saints, which includes the 813 Martyrs of Otranto as a group.
While recognizing their unique holiness, these saintly men and women are intended to be an inspiration to us that sanctity is indeed possible, and ought to serve as role models for missionary discipleship.
Each one of them testifies to how we can truly live out Baptismal commitment by zealously witnessing to the Faith within our own circumstances by using the special gifts and personal charisms we have been given.
In a small sampling of canonized saints from the last three pontificates, we find the following:
Ardor
St. Faustina who promoted God’s infinite mercy through the Divine Mercy devotion;
St. Padre Pio who encouraged Sacramental Confession and embraced the sufferings of Jesus through His reliving of the Passion;
St. Jeanne Jugan, a French religious and founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor to serve the neediest of the elderly poor throughout the world;
The Martyrs of Damascus who are 11 Catholic saints killed while praying inside a Franciscan church during the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus.
Methods
St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan and missionary who evangelized using mass media and through the promotion of Marian consecration;
St. Teresa of Calcutta, who founded the worldwide Missionaries of Charity, a Religious congregation dedicated to serving “the poorest of the poor” by running soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, orphanages, and catechetical programs;
St. John Henry Newman, a former Anglican priest who had great evangelical impact as a theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet;
St. Charles De Foucauld, a former soldier, explorer, Catholic revert, priest, hermit, and Religious Brother who served among the Tuareg people, a nomadic ethnic group in Algeria, saying he simply wanted to witness to Christ by living among “the furthest removed, the most abandoned.”
Expression
St. Josemaría Escrivá who promoted holiness among the laity by embracing one’s vocation as the “work of God”;
St. Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian doctor, who willingly preserved her unborn child’s life by sacrificing her own;
Ss. Louis Martin and Azélie-Marie “Zélie” Guérin, a French couple and the parents of five Nuns including Thérèse of Lisieux, to highlight the married vocation;
St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, an Italian missionary who served as a bishop and was the founder of both the Missionaries of St. Charles and the Mission Sisters of St. Charles;
St. André Bessette, a Holy Cross lay brother, who is credited with thousands of reported healings associated with his pious devotion to St. Joseph.
All these examples demonstrate that holiness is indeed possible if we embrace the grace given to us according to our state in life and seek an openness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Their holy lives testify to the profound truth contained in the famous quotation by the French Catholic novelist Leon Bloy: “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.”
Will your life be one of gladness or sadness?
Michael D. Wick is the director of mission for the Diocese of Madison.