On the new missal, the Gospel ---the new CCCB President

From my wrap-up story of the CCCB plenary last week:

Archbishop Smith said the launch of the new missal provides a “great opportunity” for liturgical catechesis on the mystery of the Eucharist, the mystery of Real Presence that goes beyond the changes in the words and gestures that will begin on the first Sunday of Advent.

In the Eucharist we “do encounter the Risen Lord in a real, personal and transformative way,” said Archbishop Smith, calling the events around the missal launch “a very exciting time.”

Archbishop Smith remains committed to the theme of the New Evangelization that organized the Saint-Jerome Bishop Pierre Morissette’s president’s address, which was carried live on Salt and Light. Morissette wrapped up his two-year term at plenary close Oct. 21.

“The New Evangelization is something held in the heart of every bishop,” said Archbishop Smith, who noted that four delegates from the CCCB were nominated to participate in the Synod on the New Evangelization next October. Delegates will be named by the Holy Father, he said. The bishops will be working towards that synod over the next year and “taking direction from it in the future.”

“The Gospel is such a message of hope and transformation,” Archbishop Smith said. The bishops are looking at “the signs of the times, the difficulties and struggles of our people,” and find a deepened “desire and commitment to find new ways to bring our people into dialog with the person of Jesus Christ.”

While the message of the Gospel remains the same, the cultural context differs and the Church has a responsibility to find “ever new ways” of delivering the timeless message, Archbishop Smith said.

Though the New Evangelization addresses the already baptized, it also addresses itself to all people to “each day to be open to an ever new and ever deeper encounter with the person of Jesus, then renewed by love,” reach out to other, he said.