The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) released the document Venite Ad Me: Considerations on the Transmission of the Faith in an Epochal Change on Oct. 22. It is intended “to offer a focused reflection and to suggest concrete paths for proclaiming the kerygma amid the epochal change we are experiencing” (4).
By epochal change, the DDF refers to the crisis in the intergenerational transmission of faith (47-53), the rise of a culture that exalts the “sovereignty of the self” (54-58), and the spread of digital technologies and the advancement of artificial intelligence (59-62), amid “concrete signs of hope and evangelical vitality” (64).
As Considerations, it is primarily intended “to stimulate ecclesial reflection and pastoral commitment regarding the transmission of the faith” (8).
In this context, “out of fidelity to Christian identity itself, which necessarily includes the gift of self in transmitting Christ’s light” (72), the Church is called to pursue a Christ-centered, kerygmatic mission.
As the DDF recalls from Vatican II, “Divine revelation is not merely the transmission of doctrinal truths or an ‘instruction’ from God to humanity, but a covenant dialogue” (73).
Hence, “the kerygma — the fundamental proclamation of the faith — requires a response from those who receive it that is not limited to the intellectual level but involves their entire existence in accepting God’s call to share in his very life” (73).
The kerygma that “Jesus Christ, who is alive, loves you and gave his life to save you”“must take place in such a way as to bring about an experience of faith capable of initiating the formation of one’s Christian identity” (76).
It follows, then, that the kerygma “is not… a mere transmission of content — however important that content may be, even as it concerns the salvation of every human being. It must be a ‘performative’ proclamation, capable of truly touching the hearts of those who receive it and of drawing them toward the heart of Jesus, where it is possible to contemplate and come into contact with that fire of love that he came to cast upon the earth (cf. Lk 12:49)” (77).
Performativity requires that the proclaimer have encountered Jesus in her or his own life (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 264-267).
Rightly, the DDF asserts that “the most authentic force of the evangelizing mission of the community of the Lord’s disciples remains the power of attraction” (30). The Dicastery cited a homily by Pope Benedict XVI, in which he said, “Christ’s mission is accomplished in love. He has kindled in the world the fire of God’s love (cf. Lk 12:49).”
It is Love that gives life.So, the Church has been sent forth to spread Christ’s Love throughout the world.
The Church considers herself the disciple and missionary of this Love: missionary only insofar as she is a disciple, capable of being constantly and with renewed wonder drawn to the God who has loved us and who loves us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:10) (30).
Pope Benedict added: “The Church does not engage in proselytism. Instead, she grows by ‘attraction’: just as Christ ‘draws all to himself’ by the power of his love, culminating in the sacrifice of the Cross, so the Church fulfills her mission to the extent that, in union with Christ, she accomplishes every one of her works in spiritual and practical imitation of the love of her Lord” (30). The question that then confronts the Church is how it can attract people to Jesus.
Will people be drawn to the content of the Christian faith – its doctrine or moral teachings?
Recently, I was involved in an online argument with someone who questioned the orthodoxy of organizing a Mass of Welcome for the LGBTQIA+ members of our academic community.
He considered that event a validation of his view that we, as a department, were heterodox. He even asked me to explicitly give my assent to the Church’s teachings, particularly regarding sexuality.
When I deliberately didn’t answer his question because I considered it a reductionist interpretation of what fidelity to the Gospel means, he, without hesitation, labeled me heterodox and urged me to care for my soul!
There are Christians like him in the Church whose emphasis is on safeguarding the Church’s teachings. For them, orthodoxy is paramount. While the content (read: doctrines) of the Christian faith has a certain appeal, in my view, it is not this truth that attracts.
What truly draws people to the faith, what makes them sit up and listen, is seeing Christians who have experienced the gratuitous love of Christ relate to others based on and inspired by that love. They reach out to society’s downtrodden, accept those whom society considers rejects, make others feel loved for who they are, are moved with compassion whenever they see suffering, and are there for others as they carry their own crosses.
As Pope Francis said, “For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?” (Evangelii Gaudium, 8).
People who live and proclaim the kerygma serve as true witnesses to God’s love for each and every person. As Pope Paul wrote in Evangelii Nuntiandi, “the first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life” (41).
Dogmatism doesn’t help at all. It turns people off because of its intolerance and judgmentalism. The content of faith is important, but what elicits a response of faith – as in any relationship – is feeling accepted and loved for who one is. We will be judged by the depth of our love, not by anything else.
The kerygma is nothing but God’s infinite love for each of us. We can only transmit that love if we, in our own lives, accept it in faith.
As John said, “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1 Jn 4,11-12). This love is the most authentic force of evangelization. It touches people’s hearts and draws them to Jesus’ heart.
