Mercy Evangelization > Mercy Evangelization
“The man of the 21st Century will be
“And not finding Him they returned to Jerusalem in search of Him. And it came to pass after three days, that they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who were listening to Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.” Luke 2:45-47
We believe that the purpose which drove the life of our Savior on this earth was - Mercy. Therefore, the purpose which should be the driving force behind a Catholic’s life is – to receive and reflect the Divine Mercy. Mercy is at once the motivating force and end result of Catholic evangelization (II Corinthians 5:14). The wisdom of the Church is revealed through the canonization of specific saints at specific periods in the history of the world. At a time in history when we are faced with events that incite man to anger, vengeance, and hate, which end in hopelessness, the Church has presented us with the Mercy Saints as an alternative. It is through the Divine Mercy that people will be reconciled to God and to each other. The John Paul II Center seeks to proclaim the unfathomable Mercy of God: to encourage everyone we meet that God is Mercy. We seek to live and proclaim a Mercy Driven Life.
The Purpose of the New Mercy Evangelization: To woo our neighbor into the fullness of the revelation of Christ by allowing the irresistible beauty of the Trinity-Mary-Church to flow from His Merciful Heart in us to the hearts of those seeking the Way of Life. “No man can come to Me, except the Father, who sent Me draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day. (Jn. 6:44)” This drawing is not by compulsion, nor by imposing an obligation on the free will, but by the strong and sweet motions of the heavenly Grace flowing from the heart of the Catholic evangelizer. Mercy’s manifestation is kindness.
From Hearts of Mercy: The Divine Mercy is caught not taught. In other words, evangelization is the transferal of the life giving Mercy of God in Christ from the Heart of one person to the heart of another (Ezekiel 36:25-27). Evangelization through direct contact with the miseries of humanity causes the hard heart of the evangelizer to be replaced by the broken Mercy-Driven Heart of The Wounded Healer. We believe that the hard heart is pierced by contact with human need and suffering more than through teaching. The power of the New Evangelization is the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the evangelizer reaching out by the fruit of the Spirit, especially Kindness, to the seeking hearts of people (Luke 4:18, 19). We once heard the Cardinal of Paris, speak at Paray le Monial about the Protestant pastor who, though a pastor for twenty-five years, was converted to Catholicism by experiencing the fruit of the Spirit flowing through the life of a Catholic priest working in an African prison. Note: Heart and Mercy when capitalized are Divine. Because of the year of the Eucharist it should be through the Mass and Adoration that the fruit of merciful Hearts will be ripe for the New Evangelization.
Adoration-Mercy-Evangelization-Mercy-Adoration: Adoration transforms the hard heart into a compassionate heart and compels the evangelizer into the New Evangelization. Likewise the New Evangelization causes the hard heart to break and become transfigured into a compassionate Heart which impels one to seek the Lord in Adoration.
Note: Evangelization is not in reaction or in opposition to anyone or any philosophy. As a student in the Emmanuel School of Evangelization in Rome recently told us: the difference between evangelism and Evangelization is that evangelism is accomplished by imposing what one believes on another person, whereas, Evangelization is accomplished by drawing from the person the desire to enter into the fullness of Christ because of His great Mercy.
The above encounter between Jesus and the folks in the Temple is a striking example of the ways and means our Savior teaches us about Mercy Evangelization. This is built around the principle of Ragionamento.