Lesson 1

INTRODUCTION
The mark of a true CICM is the zeal for missionary work.This means that the charism of the CICM as a
missionary institute is to go out to those who are in most need (ad extra) - to go into frontier
situations, to nations (ad gentes) wherever the Good News was not heard especially by the
poor. “Going out” as a missionary gesture is the availability of oneself to be sent wherever a CICM
presence is needed. Inspired by the CICM charism of mission ad extra and dedicated to the Incarnate
Word and inspired by Mary, Theophile Verbist animates every CICM missionary to be competent and
creative persons in Jesus’ name, and a faithful disciple at the service of the community for the respect
and preservation of the integrity of the whole creation.
THE CALL FOR A NEW EVANGELIZATION
Pope Benedict XVI in his address to the International Congress of Catechists and Religion Teachers in
Rome (12 December 2000) provided the reason why human beings are in need of a new evangelization
today. He pronounces that the “deepest poverty is not physical poverty but spiritual poverty; it is the
inability for joy, the tediousness of a life considered absurd and contradictory. This poverty is
widespread today in varied forms in both the materially rich as well as the poor countries. The inability
of joy presupposes and results to lack of love; produces jealousy, avarice – all defects which devastate
the life of individuals and of the world.” At this time, people wish to choose the path toward peaceful
life and happiness. New evangelization ushers them to this path – which is the path of Jesus who has
come to evangelize the poor (cf. Lk 4:18).
On October 11, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI issued a letter to the Catholic faithful entitled Porta Fidei. The
document is a call to celebrate a Year of Faith with the theme, “The New Evangelization for the
Transmission of Faith”. The theme was significant since Benedict XVI sees a crisis of faith in the world, a
problem which he considers as the greatest challenge to the Church today. This crisis of faith is
characterized by what the Pontiff describes as an “eclipsed of God, a kind of amnesia which, albeit not
an outright rejection of Christianity, is nonetheless, a denial of the treasure of our faith, a denial that
could lead to the loss of our deepest identity.”
The New Areopagi of Mission
The New Evangelization is the announcement of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the midst of the post-
Christian and post-secularist situation of our time. The “New Areopagi” is a metaphor John Paul II used
in a missionary context, defining them as spaces opened to mission. There are two kinds of New
Areopagi: one that is Christian-ecclesial which requires an ad intra evangelization, and another that is
mundane or neopagan, addressed by the ad extra evangelization. The New Evangelization demands
both a new personal experience of faith, considered as a free encounter with Jesus Christ, and also the
discovering of the communal aspect of that faith. From this strong position we might hope for the
recovery of the public dimension of Christianity.
The challenge for mission, hence, is how re-engage western secularized humanity in the search for
meaning – or, rather, to give it fresh focus. One of the advantages for mission in a post-Christian society
is that the phenomenon of “Christianity” has lost the weight of its baggage of history to a large extent,
and along with many of the negative connotations of “Church” and “Christendom”.
“The time is ripe for a new evangelization, speaking with the technology of the digital age that addresses
the search for meaning that surpasses all ages, that respects human freedom and autonomy that is
comfortable with and can dialogue with diversity. And that witnesses to the Kingdom present amongst
us through quiet but persuasive example.”
Therefore, the Church at present is challenged to be involved in the new sectors of evangelization – the
new Areopaguses (Areopagi) of mission.

“Mission today is described as crossing boundaries. It is going to the public square. It is described as
going to the new Areopagi of contemporary times (RM 31-37)”. The new sectors of evangelization as:
cultural sector, social sector, economic sector, civic life sector, scientific research and technology sector,
communications sector, and religious sector. These new sectors of evangelization involve new
techniques and circumstances whereby the laity are called to participate. Javier went further saying,
“the modern equivalents of the Areopagus, therefore, define the parameters of the identity and mission
of the laity in the contemporary word.”
a. Cultural sector
- Today, we are called to give witness to the personal transcendent God. That is, God being alive and
part of human affairs.
b. Social sector
Recognizing that the world today is the world of mega-migration, the laity hence are invited to enter
into collegiality (interconnected and interdependent) with other peoples and cultures.
c. Economic sector
In this age of commodification (everything has tag price/for sale), the laity are called to live the
evangelical idea of poverty (you have nothing hence, you have everything).
d. Civic sector
-In this age of strife, the laity are called to participate in the pursuit for peace, liberation of people,
promotion of the indigenous peoples’ rights and the integrity of creation.
e. Science, Technology and Communication sectors
-There is no doubt that at the present, science, technology and communications have been making great
innovations. They seem to become everything for the human person. However, the laity are challenged
to live their lives in aid of virtual reality and not to defy virtual reality.
f. Religious sector
-Finally, the laity are called to return to religion that promote peace and inter-existence and not on
fundamentalism and violence.

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INTRODUCTION

THE CALL FOR A NEW EVANGELIZATION

The New Areopagi of Mission

e. Science, Technology and Communication sectors

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