Shortly after the Second Vatican Council, a renewed spirit of evangelization arose coming from Pope St. Paul VI's encyclical "Evangelii Nuntiandi". The emphasis for evangelization was layed out by Pope St. Paul VI in this manner:
- The Church is an evangelizer, but she begins by being evangelized herself. She is the community of believers, the community of hope lived and communicated, the community of brotherly love, and she needs to listen unceasingly to what she must believe, to her reasons for hoping, to the new commandment of love. She is the People of God immersed in the world, and often tempted by idols, and she always needs to hear the proclamation of the "mighty works of God" which converted her to the Lord; she always needs to be called together afresh by Him and reunited. In brief, this means that she has a constant need of being evangelized, if she wishes to retain freshness, vigor and strength in order to proclaim the Gospel. The Second Vatican Council recalled and the 1974 Synod vigorously took up again this theme of the Church which is evangelized by constant conversion and renewal, in order to evangelize the world with credibility.
- The Church is the depositary of the Good News to be proclaimed. The promises of the New Alliance in Jesus Christ, the teaching of the Lord and the apostles, the Word of life, the sources of grace and of God's loving kindness, the path of salvation - all these things have been entrusted to her. It is the content of the Gospel, and therefore of evangelization, that she preserves as a precious living heritage, not in order to keep it hidden but to communicate it.
- Having been sent and evangelized, the Church herself sends out evangelizers. She puts on their lips the saving Word, she explains to them the message of which she herself is the depositary, she gives them the mandate which she herself has received and she sends them out to preach. To preach not their own selves or their personal ideas, but a Gospel of which neither she nor they are the absolute masters and owners, to dispose of it as they wish, but a Gospel of which they are the ministers, in order to pass it on with complete fidelity. (Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi 15)
In short, evangelization begins by each of us hearing and obeying the Word of God in the sacred Scriptures and sacred Tradition, that is Divine Revelation. Filled with the Spirit of Truth, we are then called to proclaim, teach and catechize others so that they might share in the beauty of Truth. Still heeding these prophetic words of Pope St. Paul VI, at Our Lady Queen of Peace we all recognize the importance of our role in proclaiming and teaching the Word of God and inviting people to embrace the sacramental life lived in the Holy Spirit.
We place before ourselves two tasks: 1) To be polite, and invite people to encounter Jesus in holiness and love. And, 2) To cooperate with God, who will bring our good works to fruition. We invite you to experience the beauty of the Catholic faith at Our Lady Queen of Peace: in our Christian formation programs, in sacred worship, in charitable service, and in healing and renewal initiatives.
If you are interested in getting involved with our parish Evangelization Team please contact Mrs. Barbara Bayles, email: [email protected].