Wednesday 8 September 2010

Truth proclaimed


John Paul II, embracing the vision of the Council, taught the world how Christ saves man by enabling him to comprehend his true dignity and to live according to that dignity. This is what lies at the heart of all his teaching.

His first Encyclical Letter in 1979, Redemptor Hominis, was a proclamation of this vision. He taught that the central truth of man's life is the Redemption. In the Redemption God shares His life with man, and man is revealed for who he truly is.

The Church is the herald of this truth, and humanity, wherever it is found, and in whatever condition it is in, this same humanity is the place where the Church is called to go as a herald of the Gospel.

The New Evangelisation then, consists in embracing man's hopes and his anxieties and showing that they find their full response in Jesus Christ. Today's Christians are called to a 'Kingly' mission: service to Christ who uniquely reveals the full truth about man, and service to humanity which, although wounded by sin, is called to receive the healing love of God.

This in a nutshell is the message of grace of John Paul II in the midst of a world bewildered by secularism. Yet, alongside, there is a new generation which has received this message and welcomed it; the fruits are already beginning to ripen.

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