Indian Catholic Matters is proud to present an insightful paper titled, A Call to Be/Become the Good News, which was presented by Sr. Rekha M Chennattu, RA at the recently held 33rd plenary meet of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) in Bengaluru.
Dr. Rekha is a Professor of New Testament and lectures on Biblical themes (exegesis, theology, and spirituality) and has published books and over 100 articles in India and abroad. She is currently the Provincial Superior of the Assumption Sisters (India) and a Member of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference – Office of Theological Concerns (FABC-OTC). She is also an Associate Faculty member of Pontifical Athenaeum, Pune, India.
Beginning today, we will be running her paper as a 4-part series in the next few days. Extracts from the presentation:
I consider it an honor to present this paper. Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas wrote to me saying I should give a “comprehensive biblical input” on the theme – The Catholic Church in India at the Service of the Good News.
The mission of evangelizing begins at home. I would like to begin this sharing with one of the most powerful moments of evangelization in my personal life. This happened 27 years ago when I was sent to the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome to study the Bible. My grandfather who was 92-year-old told me the following: “when you study the Bible in Rome, it should not become an intellectual exercise, but a spiritual experience of awakening, an experience of encountering God in the Bible. Always keep this in mind: to be a biblical student does not merely mean that you master the Word of God but allowing the Word of God to master your life”! It was easier for me to teach mathematics and physics, but teaching the New Testament is a challenging task as it constantly challenges me to be in a process of constant conversion and deeper commitment.
Also Read:
A Call to Become the Good News: Jesus and the Gospels
A Call to Become the Good News: St Paul and Letters
A Call to Become the Good News: The Christian Way
When I think of the theme – the Catholic Church in India at the Service of the Good News from a Biblical perspective, what comes to my mind is that our identity defines and determines our mission. Our being and doing would go hand in hand. Our being is based on our God-experience, and it reveals our mission or role in the history of Salvation.
Receiving new names is very common in Biblical traditions: Abram becoming Abraham (Genesis 17), Sarai becoming Sarah (Genesis 17), Jacob becoming Israel (Genesis 32), Saul becoming Paul (Acts 13), Simon becoming Peter (John 1). These new names express their new identity and mission. The names have a direct relation to the role of the person so designated will play in Salvation history. Our doing – our mission, is indeed a manifestation of our being – our identity. Hence if the Indian church wants to be at the service of the good news, the church has to be the good news. It is indeed a call to become the good news, and to make the mission of evangelizing a way of life.
In what follows in the coming days, I shall explore the Gospels and Letters of Paul focusing on the God-experience, identity and mission of Jesus and Paul respectively. I shall then use these insights to enhance our understanding of how the Church has to become the Good News.
To be continued…