Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in an address to Catechists and Religion teachers, 12 December 2000, explained the “New Evangelization.” He noted two elements in the process; first, the contents and secondly, the methodology. And as Pope Benedict XVI, he had been proposing the contents of evangelization, which is the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the methodology, in the monasticism of St. Benedict. St. Benedict was not starting a new movement in the Catholic Church. He was putting the contents of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into a way of life. He was not evangelizing Europe. He was just saving a few souls
Pope Benedict XVI called this “New Evangelization” the “classical Evangelization.” There was really nothing “new” in it. His proposed evangelization is exactly the way Jesus Christ, the apostles and the Fathers of the Church evangelized their surroundings. And it is based on the Apostolic commission Christ gave at the end of the Gospel of St. Matthew. “Go to all nations (which today had been done), baptizing them (which has largely been done, too), teaching them all my commandments (which I think has not largely been done today) and how to obey them (which I suspect had not been done at all). “Teaching them all my commands” would be the contents of evangelization and may be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church; “teaching them how to obey them” would be the methodology as exemplified in the monastic life whose “Father” is St. Benedict. The compendium of the Catechism and the Holy Rule of St. Benedict would be the perfect combination for evangelization. It was a great partner in the early Church, it could be great again today. The Gospel and monasticism had co-existed from the beginning of Christianity for the purpose mentioned above. St. Benedict, of course, was not the founder of monasticism. Jesus, Joseph and Mary, during their 30 years of hidden life were the founders of monasticism. They were to be followed by John the Baptist and the apostles.
In his work “The spirit of the liturgy” the Holy Father described the process of evangelization in three steps: aside from the contents and the methodology, he adds a pre-requisite that goes before the two. He gave the comparison with the exodus of the Israelite from Egypt to go to the promised land. Note the three steps here: firstly, the Israelites left Egypt, secondly, to go to the desert, thirdly, on their way to the Promised Land.
Firstly, the Israelites left Egypt, which was the symbol of a pagan culture. St. Benedict left pagan Rome. In Monasticism this is the “fuga mundo” commonly practiced by saints. To attain holiness we must abandon today’s atmosphere of paganism and relativism, which is Godless and barbaric in nature. The reason for leaving Egypt was to go to the desert to worship God. Apparently they could not worship God in Egypt. That was the issue. So St. Benedict and the monks left the world because they could not worship God properly in the pagan atmosphere of the cities. The first monks went to the desert, too, or some isolated place. But for practical reasons, they lived together in communities within monasteries because the Gospel should be practiced within the context of a community and not alone, The heremitical life was for the very advanced.
The Israelites went to the desert to worship God but they did not know how to worship God. They will be taught in the desert by God, Himself. And God, instead of giving them a set of rubrics and ceremonials taught them a “way of life,” based on the 10 commandments. So in the same way, Christians do not know how to worship God. They have to learn from God directly, and this is taught to them in the ambiance of a monastery. In the monastery they will not learn rubrics and ceremonials but a “way of life.” The way of life is the manner by which they will render true worship to God. And while living this way of life will God reveal, Himself,to man.
Essentially, this “way of Life” consists in doing God’s will and in denying one’s own will. The mistake of the Israelites was not in being alienated from God but in that they chose how to worship God without waiting for instructions. They pre-empted and worshipped God in the way they wanted. They followed their own will chosing dancing and merry making as their form of worship, very much the same way as Mass is celebrated in some churches. The dictatorship of relativism consist in doing what we like and calling it worship of God. No. We have to wait for Moses with strict instructions from God. In the same way, we live in monasteries and wait to understand the instructions written in the Gospels on how we should worship God. The Rule of St. Benedict embodies the way to know the “Will of God” and how we should deny our own will: this is worshipping God in spirit and in truth.
So we have seen the first step which is “fuga mundo;” secondly, the desert experience within the monastic life and now the third. The promised land, Sion or Paradise.
He who leaves Egypt and learns to put into his life the will of God was rewarded with entering the promised land. He who leaves the world and perseveres in the monastery becomes worthy to be a true member of the Catholic Church, a branch attached to the vine, and deserving of heaven.
This process of evangelization is a continuing process. The Israelites left Egypt, were disciplined in the desert and reached the promised land. Then the promise land became an Egypt, the first Gentiles had to leave their Egypt, went to the desert, forests and mountaints and found their heavenly Zion in Western Europe! Then Europe became Egypt. Souls who wanted to be converted had to leave the cities, enter some semblance of monastic life either at home or a monastery, to reached their Promised Land. This will continue up to the end of times.
(The picture above is entitled “The Benedictine Paradise” by P. Annigoni (1979) featuring St. Benedict surrounded by monks, bishops and nuns who lived in holiness by following his Rule. These include three Popes; at the left St. Gregory the Great, who was St. Benedict’s first biographer; the middle Pope Paul VI who re-consacrated the Basilica in 1964 and proclaimed St. Benedict the main Patron Saint of Europe and on the right St. Victor III, former Abbot and author of Montecassino’s splendour in the 12th century.)
Note that Christianity is a way of life that leads to martyrdom. Jesus Christ and the first apostles were martyred. And this message was so clear to the first Christians that they practically rushed to martyrdom. Martyrdom was considered the crown of Christian life. But when persecutions subsided ( it has never stopped) the monastic life or white martyrdom (Fulton Sheen calls it “Dry martyrdom”) became the alternative.
Seeing His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, desirous that we master, at least, the compedium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and at the same time encouraging us to follow the example of St. Benedict whom he admires and under whose patronage he had dedicated his papacy, that is like preparing us for martyrdom! Does he know something he is not telling us?