The Vatican’s representative in New Zealand has warned against a diminution of the true identity of the Church and her mission, from which distorted or diluted efforts to evangelise can only bring about mediocrity.
In a homily, the Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand and the Islands of the Pacific, Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, preached at a commemorative Mass for the feast of St José Maria Escriva at Sacred Heart church, Petone, on June 17.
Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa
Archbishop Rugambwa stressed the identity of Christians as children of God, destined to be coheirs with Christ, walking the path of sanctity, being on a mission of “fishing” other brothers and sisters, and leading them to the path of sanctity so that they, too, might be coheirs with Christ.
“Nevertheless, today — more than ever before — the world is strongly opposed to those who uphold sanctity as the purpose of life,” the archbishop said.
“Today, we witness an increase in hatred towards Christianity, especially towards the Catholic Church.”
Persecution of Christians happened in ancient times, and still happens today in some parts of the world, he noted.
It is “still very frequent in many countries where killing a Christian is sometimes considered as a holy service to Almighty God (John 16:2)”.
But “there are many less physically aggressive, but equally dangerous, methods that are found in many parts of the world, including in the developed countries. These methods appear in a form of ideology, legislation, deceit, foul propaganda, calumny, bullying, etc. against Christianity, especially against Catholicism”.
Archbishop Rugambwa said that “these methods are so frequent and so powerful in societies that we, the baptised, seem helplessly out of place because, in some cases, secularist states declare laws against Christianity”!
“We are living in an epoch that is telling us not to present in public a religious point of view, even in matters regarding life, culture and morals; that religion must be taken as a mere private matter; not to pray; not to expose any religious sign, such as a cross, in public — in schools and hospitals and squares; etc..”
“Consequently,” he said, “even children at school and in higher education institutes are intentionally induced to regard religion as irrelevant, superstitious and ridiculous. We can say that we — as Christians — are living moments of suffering; moments of both aggressive and non-aggressive persecutions.”
The archbishop referenced several passages of Scripture to show that sharing the suffering of Jesus is “part and parcel of the status and mission of ‘fishers of men and women’; sharing the suffering of Jesus is part and parcel of the life of all those who are on the way that leads to sanctity (Jn 16;1-4; Lk 21:12; Mt 10: 16-31)”.
But, while there is a certain inevitability about this for Christians, the history of the Church and the lives of the saints show that being persecuted and despised by the world should give Christians many opportunities — “to bear witness (Lk 21:13), not to yield or cave in; to persevere, not to despair; to evangelise more and more, not to dilute the doctrine of the Church; to be the salt of the earth, not to be tasteless; to be the light, not darkness”.
“Unfortunately,” Archbishop Rugambwa said, “it is becoming frequent, even among Catholics, that some individuals think that many people will be attracted to the faith if we follow the spirit of the world, or if we reduce our belief to mere actions of convenience and nicety!
“There are even people who are happy to see the Church lose her identity, transforming herself into a ‘non-governmental organisation’, thus with nothing to do with conversion of the people and salvation of the souls.
“This is very dangerous, because any diluted or distorted evangelisation breeds mediocrity opposed to sanctity! “
Rather, “Jesus Christ is continually calling us to be saints and to embark on our mission, a mission to be fishers of men and women for the kingdom of Heaven”.
Archbishop Rugambwa exhorted those present at Petone to intensify “permanent formation in the discipleship of Jesus Christ in our families, our schools, our workplaces, and in our parish communities”.
“We can bear fruits only if we are truly and fully in Christ, just as the branches remain connected to the vine (Jn 15: 5) in order to bear fruits. To think otherwise is to deceive oneself, because it is by seeking holiness in Christ Jesus that we can fulfil our mission as ‘fishers’ of men and women.”
Throughout his homily, Archbishop Rugambwa cited teachings by St José Maria Escriva about carrying out one’s ordinary daily activities with love, following Jesus, and lovingly embracing sufferings on the path to being saints.
O so true. Deserves to be circulated to every school, church and religious superior in Australasia.
I was there to hear this excellent homily. I agree with Archbishop Rugambwa wholeheartedly. Many Christians are being persecuted around the world with many martyred. And more subtley, many people from both inside and outside the Christian church effectively undermine it’s mission when they try to dilute or make private our pratices. I hope his message is heard widely and acted upon.