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patheos.com |
Last Fall, the Catholic Church had the important Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. Bishops, lay people and other leaders – both within and outside the Church – gathered to explore an important question: How do we communicate Jesus to 21st-century-people, to a world full of complexities? We need to revisit this question on a regular basis. This is not a question that will be answered by a single synod. Nonetheless, this Synod was an important moment that explored the language we use to proclaim Jesus Christ Crucified and Risen, and tried to deepen the impact of that language on our world.
Upon the completion of the Synod, there was great enthusiasm about what it accomplished, but there was also some frustration. One of the most pronounced criticisms was that very little was said about the Church’s commitment to social justice. A possible response to that criticism may be that there’s no need to learn how to evangelize justice. If we learn to communicate our faith more effectively, people will learn a faith that also teaches and does justice, and they will practice that justice.