Our Sunday Visitor: New Evangelization

This was a great weekend. For starters, our little boy got baptized! The smell of oil is still fresh in his hair. I was thinking originally that we should have waited a day and baptized him on Pentecost. How cool would that have been? It's okay though. I realized several hours later, thanks to Facebook, that he was baptized on Blessed John Paul II's birthday. That's pretty cool too. But since Pentecost just occurred, I decided today would be the perfect day to review New Evangelization by Cardinal Donald Wuerl.

I have recently discovered the New Evangelization. Everywhere you turn today, it's the latest buzz phrase in the Catholic world. In this short book, written by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, he explains what it is, where it began, why it's important, and what we can do to spread the Gospel. The chapters are a short read, but they come off a little bit stiff at times, like mini-essays.

I really enjoyed Chapter 6 - "Parishes - Centers of the New Evangelization." This chapter focuses a lot on the religious education of our children both by teachers at Catholic schools and Catechists at the parish level. I have been a catechist for three years, but I never considered this to be a part of the New Evangelization. It definitely eases the sting you sometimes feel when the kids are just not responding to you and don't want to be there at all.

Overall, I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was a very fine explanation of what the New Evangelization is, but I was hoping for more practical examples in Chapter 8 - "Sharing the Faith." The book is still worth reading though. We are all called to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, not just with strangers but with our family and friends as well. Therefore, we need to know more about the New Evangelization, so pick up this book and other works related to the subject and learn a little more about this movement within our Church.

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