We are a people who seek something new in the midst of this Year of Faith. We seek a new depth of conversion, of encounter with Jesus, of friendship with Him. We are beginning to realize that the "New Evangelization" is His initiative; it is His work in history, which we are called to discover, adhere to, and follow.
And we now know that it involves surprises; it is a journey that is taking us places beyond our dreams and plans. Let us follow with confidence, and continue to be formed by the wisdom the Lord has communicated to us through this great Pope, whose words have become more radiant and penetrating in the light of his witness of fidelity and self-surrender to the love of God.
"Only God can begin, we can only cooperate, but the beginning must come from God.... Only the fact that God precedes us makes possible our own walking, our cooperation, which is always just a cooperation, not our own simple decision. Therefore, it is always important to know that the first word, the initiative itself, the true activity comes from God and only by inserting ourselves in this divine initiative, only begging this divine initiative, we too can become - with Him and in Him - evangelizers" (Benedict XVI).
