How do we prepare ourselves to faithfully follow the call of every Christian to the New Evangelization? During lent we give up things to mortify our bodies as a way to exercise the will, giving us practice in saying no to ourselves. And then we can say “no” when temptations come along. Training our bodies is similar to training the soul. You have to go out and exercise whether you feel like it or not, greatly moderate the intake of junk food, and forego late nights. Similarly, we need to pray when we don’t feel like it, give our minds and souls good positive things to digest, and live for others and not for our own selfish pleasures.
In medieval times, to show sorrow and contrition for sins, people would make pilgrimages, usually on foot, to special holy places. The destination was not the most important thing; it was the journey. For me, Biking for Babies is the same thing. Not only are the days on the bike important, but also the daily journey of preparing my mind and heart to fight the prevailing attitude of undervaluing life. As well as, remembering the importance of not being afraid to shout it out.
In the words of Cardinal Bergoglio at the pre-conclave meetings which would elect him pope, he said, “The Church is called to come out of herself and to go to the peripheries, not only geographically, but also the existential peripheries: the mystery of sin, of pain, of injustice, of ignorance and indifference to religion, of intellectual currents, and of all misery.” These are things we must confront and try to help remedy–this is the call to the new evangelization which every Christian is called to.
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