New Evangelization

”John Eudes, captivated by the love of Jesus, carried in his heart the hardships and needs of his brothers and sisters. He audaciously opened up new avenues for expanding the Kingdom of Jesus…

Eudist’s work at proclaiming the Gospel by the witness of their lives, their prayer life, their teaching and their commitment to the many apostolic tasks. Among all these tasks, they deem particularly important those that bring evangelization to be ever more centered on making known ‘the person of Jesus, who is –Himself– the Gospel of God.’” (CJM Constitutions 14, 23-24)

Each particular Church should encourage the use of the arts in evangelization, building on the treasures of the past but also drawing upon the wide variety of contemporary expressions so as to transmit the faith in a new ‘language of parables’. We must be bold enough to discover new signs and new symbols, new flesh to embody and communicate the word, and different forms of beauty which are valued in different cultural settings, including those unconventional modes of beauty which may mean little to the evangelizers, yet prove particularly attractive for others (Evangelic Gaudium, 167).

The New Evangelization calls each of us to deepen our faith, believe in the Gospel message and go forth to proclaim the Gospel. The focus of the New Evangelization calls all Catholics to be evangelized and then go forth to evangelize. In a special way, the New Evangelization is focused on ‘re-proposing’ the Gospel to those who have experienced a crisis of faith. Pope Benedict XVI called for the re-proposing of the Gospel “to those regions awaiting the first evangelization and to those regions where the roots of Christianity are deep but who have experienced a serious crisis of faith due to secularization.”1The New Evangelization invites each Catholic to renew their relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church.

1 Pope Benedict XVI, “Homily of First Vespers on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul,” The Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2010/documents/hf_benxvi_hom_20100628_vespri-pietro-paolo_en.html. . .

Our Parishes

“Eudists courageously proclaim the message of salvation to those who have not yet heard it; they are concerned about those who, having heard it, have strayed from it; they attempt to make the communities for which they are responsible aware of their duty to evangelize. 

They attempt to open up these communities to the transforming action of the Holy Spirit by promoting, as much as they can, growth in the faith, deeper spiritual and sacramental life, and the sharing of pastoral responsibilities.” (CJM Constitutions 28)

Because the parish is one of the fundamental cells of the Church, it is the arena where much of the work of evangelization is carried out. In our parishes, we work on an ongoing basis to remind the faithful of their baptismal vocation to holiness, and strive to activate a spirit of evangelization and active compassion in the parish. The bishops have given us pastoral care of three parishes and one formation house:

We also maintain a presence in several other parishes, either as priests or as other members of the Eudist family:

• Holy Trinity in El Cajon, CA
  Leticia Trent, coordinator of Hispanic Religious Ed and Eudist Associate; John Trent, past Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus and Eudist Associate.

• Blessed Sacrament in San Diego, CA 
  An active group of Eudist Associates, especially active in ministry to the Vietnamese community.

• St. Joseph University Parish in Buffalo, NY
  Fr. Bob Perelli CJM, weekend priest and head of the Center for Family Systems Theory.