Christ in You invites each Catholic man to renew his relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church.
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 John Paul II is credited with coining the phrase "New Evangelization" as he considered pastoral situations involving communism in Eastern Europe, Marxism in Latin America, secularism sweeping Europe and the United States, evangelical movements in Africa and the effects of the nuclear age in the political realm. The New Evangelization is about the new situations that man finds himself in and how the Church makes pathways in those situations for man to know Christ, the Gospel and the communio of a believing community called the Church. Pope John Paul II wrote in his encyclical Redemptor Missio (1990) that these pathways are springtime for the Church and therefore not situations that we should turn our backs to or walk away from, since the Church is called to be in dialogue with all cultures of the world.
A key moment for the New Evangelization is the evangelization of culture, for it is here that believers live faith, discover their vocation and build up the Kingdom of God. Culture is not extraneous to the Gospel. Culture is formed and shaped by whatever forces are present. Culture by its very definition is organic and the very venue by which faith is experienced and lived. Many American Catholics live a dual life — keeping their faith as a private affair, while at the same time attempting to be good citizens by accepting whatever law is passed, whatever voice yells the loudest and whatever standard is purported to be socially acceptable. As a result, culture is poisoned, and the Gospel becomes less accessible.
Pope Benedict XVI met with all the bishops of the United States who were participating in their ad limina visits, which take place every five years or so. The Holy Father recognized in his addresses to the bishops the challenges we see in our culture regarding religious freedom and the relationship between faith and culture. We Catholics have nothing to be ashamed of in what the Gospel of Christ announces. In the history of our faith, when we Catholics are persecuted and when we choose to be faithful to the Gospel, the Church prevails.
The New Evangelization for American Catholics demonstrates that one can be a faithful Catholic and a patriotic American. Many voices in the political and social orders of American society have convinced Americans that intolerance is a sin against patriotism. Many Christians, therefore, have re-created the Gospel to mean one that tolerates abortion, same-sex "marriage," homosexuality, euthanasia, etc.
The direct threat to evangelization is secular humanism. Secular humanism replaces God and positions man as the goal of culture. American Catholics and believers of God remained silent overall. The social sins we see today in American society are the result of silence.
Today, however, we see young Catholics, young families, seminarians, young women in consecrated life, college students and many more who are no longer bashful about their faith. But we must be careful to not misplace our energies.
Pope Francis says, “The New Evangelization is about bringing the “light to the nations”. Jesus Christ is the light we are sharing. We must bring this light to our world today in a new way using new expressions and be on fire in doing so. We must not be afraid but share the truths of our faith not in a defensive way but show it off with confidence. Radiate the joy; God’s love inside us. In joy, you can teach without preaching.”