Pope Francis' Prayer to Mary Mother of the Living Gospel
Mary, Virgin and Mother,
you who, moved by the Holy Spirit,
welcomed the word of life
in the depths of your humble faith:
as you gave yourself completely to the Eternal One,
help us to say our own “yes”
to the urgent call, as pressing as ever,
to proclaim the good news of Jesus.
Filled with Christ’s presence,
you brought joy to John the Baptist,
making him exult in the womb of his mother.
Brimming over with joy,
you sang of the great things done by God.
Standing at the foot of the cross
with unyielding faith,
you received the joyful comfort of the resurrection,
and joined the disciples in awaiting the Spirit
so that the evangelizing Church might be born.
Obtain for us now a new ardour born of the resurrection,
that we may bring to all the Gospel of life
which triumphs over death.
Give us a holy courage to seek new paths,
that the gift of unfading beauty
may reach every man and woman.
Virgin of listening and contemplation,
Mother of love, Bride of the eternal wedding feast,
pray for the Church, whose pure icon you are,
that she may never be closed in on herself
or lose her passion for establishing God’s kingdom.
Star of the new evangelization,
help us to bear radiant witness to communion,
service, ardent and generous faith,
justice and love of the poor,
that the joy of the Gospel
may reach to the ends of the earth,
illuminating even the fringes of our world.
Mother of the living Gospel,
wellspring of happiness for God’s little ones,
pray for us.
Amen. Alleluia!
From The Joy of the Gospel, Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis
The Vatican Presentation on Social Media. Surprising!
Evangelization and Catholic Media
Votive Mass of the Queen of Apostles opened our day. Then we began the presentations. I will blog them in order although they will move down the feed as I go!
- The Vatican and Digital Media: Fr. Paul Tighe
Thoughtful ignorance to thoughtfull uncertaintly. We are encouraged to use new media, the experiment and to learn. Fr. is part of the team for the @Pontifex The Pope received a lot of attention for the twitter account. It is where we need to be - to bring the church into the arena. This is worth doing. This is not a fad. We are close to 10 million followers in all languages. The Latin feed is for those who love playing around with Latin tweets. Instead it received so many followers! There is a lot of retweeting, like the scattering of the seed. News.va is getting revised to continue updating its format and its feed. 50-60 thousand people go on each day. The Pope App allows you to see the Pope and watch events live. "The Pope in your pocket" though this Pope is in nobodies pocket. Facebook is interesting. The most interest is around spirituality. One message of the Pope, the New Evangelization Conference in the Philippines- Pope's first English presentation. There were 250,000 shares within the half-hour. Our youth are expressing themselves, forming relationships and creating community in another way. A change in communication itself. It is the user who is determining where we are going or not going with these developments. We don't know which platforms will develop. It is changing the church's nature in its manifestations. Benedict said theologians have to reflect on this because theology is always a reflection on how our culture is changing. Change that is similar to the changes in the way the younger generation is. "christians in social media are becoming citizens in the arena - citizens who fit in, who don't stick out, etc. also bring faith into this reality. Digital is very real. Increasing numbers of people are engaged. It is an existential dimension of their lives. We need to rethink what we are doing. We need to learn the new language for the digital continent - how we have our conversations. We grew up with the idea of the pulpit. We were at the center and you were out there listening. New Media is different - it is shared and that is how it gets out there. It is interactive. We have to engage the questions. Most of these conversations are happening in the common forum. We don't know who is listening. Trying to make scenes.. Pope to listen, to converse and to encourage in the digital world. So many people have need for encouragement. We don't text very well - encyclicals etc, as a church. In a digital arena we need words images and sounds. Before we were literate we were v good with beauty - stained glass, music ... "warm peoples hearts" says Benedict. Give them a lift and something that gives them pleasure. The icons we use do not presume we know what we are talking about anymore: the words - lent, confession, Vatican II. We don't want to lose the theological language but need entry level language..
Social Network of the New Evangelization Generation
Pope Francis on Evangelization
"Today we are called to make this our intuition," the Cardinal said. "Even though at times we may be tired, we are called to proclaim the Gospel always, especially with zeal, which means with love." The new Pope - he continued - "urged us to come out of ourselves, not to yield to the temptation of egocentricity, but to go to the needy, to bring a proclamation of joy and hope to all those organizations marked by material and spiritual poverty. "As Christians engaged in the work of evangelization "we can give our contribution to the Petrine ministry, continuing to lavish our commitment with generosity and love," said Cardinal Filoni.
Then talking about his experience in the Conclave, he remarked: "It was very emotional, as one feels the great responsibility. We Cardinals 'indicated' not elected the new Pope, he was chosen by God. If Mother Teresa prayed to be 'a pencil in the hands of God', for me this election was a dash in God’s plan, it was a unique experience." Cardinal Filoni confirmed that the Pope chose the name Francis referring to Francis of Assisi, "although this choice is significant of his deep humility." (PA) (Agenzia Fides 14/03/2013)
Foundation for Evangelization through the Media
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Proclaim the Gospel, its message and values, through
all types of modern media, especially through digital media;
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Use the latest media technologies to contribute to
expanding the Church's communication;
-
Facilitate cooperation and collaboration among the
various Christian communities that are already active in the media;
-
Develop with the Church a coherent global strategy to
achieve these objectives.
http://www.fem-roma.org/
Flashmob Evangelization
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| Flashmob deepbrazil.com |
On Saturday 9th March, a group of young Catholics will get on the underground in Mexico City to bring the message of Christ to thousands of people who every day use this means of transport. "The Mision Subterranea" (Mission in the metro), as this day of evangelization has been called is organized for the second year by the youth of the Church of the Immaculate Conception of Azcapotzalco, under the slogan: "Let us go and spread our faith to those who need it."
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These days, flash mobs spring up for all sorts of occasions.
This group, for example, is performing "Thriller" in honor of Michael Jackson. Stringer/Entertainment/Getty Images |
The note sent to Fides by the Archdiocese of Mexico reports that all the parishes have joined the youth's initiative, with the contribution of their artistic talents, with logistic support, with material for evangelization. Young people will be present on all underground lines, spreading the Gospel through songs or other artistic expressions.
This type of mission was inspired by the famous "Flashmob", organized about a month ago, in which thousands of people in cities around the world, took the underground half-naked "to have fun and show that one can do something together without having met before." "But we want to bring the Word of God in a public place like the underground. With our guitars, drums, and our voice we want to sing to evangelize.
We will also distribute postcards of saints, because people ask us to speak of the saints and the Bible." the day of "special mission underground" will end with a concert, which will be attended by hundreds of young missionaries. Mexico City (Agenzia Fides 27/02/2013) Click here: What is a Flashmob?
Evangelization & Pilgrimage
Evangelizing through experience means just that. During a
pilgrimage are in play all five senses. See places and faces, hear sounds and
noises, smell odors and smells, taste foods and flavors, step on the land of
the place you visit. In a pilgrimage to the suggestions that imprint places in
our soul and in our body combine with the "beauty" of the faces of
those we meet along the way.
To reach God, not enough places, but you need the faces of
the communities with which we come into contact, the knowledge of their
traditions, their history, and much more simply in their everyday life.
Read More: visit the official Year of Faith Pilgrimage Site.
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