{"id":652,"date":"2012-10-16T11:11:31","date_gmt":"2012-10-16T15:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=652"},"modified":"2012-10-16T15:22:43","modified_gmt":"2012-10-16T19:22:43","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjavascript-ga-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=652","title":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">  var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-25646250-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);  (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();  <\/script>  <\/heat> The New Evangelization \u2013 Fr. Shori\u2019s Addressed on the Weekend of October 13 &#8211; 14, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The New Evangelization<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fr. Shori addressed the topic of the <strong>New Evangelization<\/strong> at all the Masses over the weekend of October 13 &#8211; 14. \u00a0I think this topic is extremely important. \u00a0First of all because Jesus&#8217; parting words to us in Mt. 28: 18 &#8211; 20 were<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Then Jesus approached and said to them, \u201cAll power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.\u00a0Go, therefore,<span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\"><span style=\"line-height: 5px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span>and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,\u00a0teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.<span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\"><span style=\"line-height: 5px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span>And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, the very title of this web site, Rise to the Level of our Times, requires one that we know what the level of our times is and two that we do what is required to rise to that level.<\/p>\n<p>My post is to invite a conversation about this call for a new evangelization in light of some sober facts of our time. \u00a0One of the stunning facts of our times is the mass exodus the Catholic Church in the United States is experiencing. \u00a0We have to face the fact that millions of Catholics have left and are leaving the Church; in fact &#8220;lapse&#8221; Catholics represent the third largest religious group in the United States. \u00a0<strong>Pew survey shows America&#8217;s vast Catholic exodus\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicculture.org\/news\/features\/index.cfm?recnum=56894\">http:\/\/www.catholicculture.org\/news\/features\/index.cfm?recnum=56894<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Some Catholic leaders speak of this exodus in terms of a pruning away of those who don&#8217;t believe, who were just cultural Catholics; and their leaving the Church is positive. \u00a0In this narrative those who remain are the true believers. \u00a0These leaders hearken back to the biblical notion to identify those who remain as &#8220;The Remnant.&#8221; \u00a0I couldn&#8217;t disagree more strongly with this understanding but where do you stand on these matters.<\/p>\n<p>I would be interested in knowing<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Do you personally know a &#8220;lapsed&#8221; Catholic, someone who no longer identifies themselves as a Catholic? \u00a0If yes, what was the reason[s] they gave for their no longer belonging or why do you think they no longer belong? \u00a0If you know more than one person and there are different reasons for different persons, please be as concrete as you can while respecting privacy, etc. \u00a0In other words, avoid vague generalities &#8230; Life is concrete and the events that change our lives have a place, a date, very often a person to them.<\/li>\n<li>Would you share your evaluation of their reasons? Or do you agree or disagree with what they said and why?<\/li>\n<li>Have you read anything concerning the &#8220;exodus&#8221; of Catholics? \u00a0If yes, what and what was your evaluation of your reading?<\/li>\n<li>Comment on your understanding and assessment of Fr. Shori&#8217;s remarks.<\/li>\n<li>Finally, if others respond, I would invite you to comment on their remarks as well.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If this topic interests you, click on the &#8220;comment&#8221; link at the bottom of this post, enter your email address and let others know what you think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New Evangelization Fr. Shori addressed the topic of the New Evangelization at all the Masses over the weekend of October 13 &#8211; 14. \u00a0I think this topic is extremely important. \u00a0First of all because Jesus&#8217; parting words to us &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=652\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,21],"tags":[12,18],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-change-in-the-catholic-church","category-new-evangelization","tag-catholic-position","tag-religion-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":663,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}