Academic conference, part of seminary's 100th anniversary celebration, features nationally known authors and speakers

DETROIT — The new evangelization, preaching the Gospel to those who have already heard it, isn’t all that new.

Jesus had to re-preach the Gospel to Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus, the very day of the Resurrection.

“Emmaus is the model for the new evangelization, preaching to those who have already heard the Gospel,” Scott Hahn, Ph.D., told clergy, scholars and lay faithful Oct. 12 during an academic symposium sponsored by Sacred Heart Major Seminary at the Westin Book Cadillac hotel in downtown Detroit. 

Jesus' encounter with Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus shows what can happen when someone who has heard the message of salvation becomes open to hearing it anew, Hahn said.

“They expressed their fears, hopes and disappointments, but Jesus, this supposed stranger, teaches and goes over the Bible, the law, how he had to suffer,” Hahn said. “So hour by hour, law by law, mile by mile on this road, Jesus shows how important Bible study is, opening up the Scripture and the law, how it must be fulfilled. This is revealed to Cleopas, this lowly layman — not to Peter or the apostles. It shows the power of the witness of the laity.”

Hahn, a renowned Catholic author, speaker and chair of biblical theology and the new evangelization at Franciscan University of Steubenville, joined several other high-profile speakers during Sacred Heart's symposium, “Enter Through the Narrow Gate: The Urgency of the New Evangelization in the Third Millennium.” 

The conference was part of Sacred Heart's yearlong centennial celebration, featuring academics and clergy from around the country to discuss the role of priests, deacons and laity in the new evangelization. 

Hahn was one of three keynote speakers, including John Cavadini, Ph.D., professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame and director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, and Brownsville, Texas, Bishop Daniel Flores. Several Sacred Heart Major Seminary faculty members were panelists and commentators during breakout sessions.

When telling people about Christ, Hahn said, it’s important not to present Christ and the Gospels as books, but a series of actions.

“We need to embrace this idea that the Scriptures are the Church,” Hahn said. “Jesus didn’t say, ‘Write it in remembrance of me.’ He said, ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’ The New Testament was a sacrament before it was a document. We need to develop (the idea) that the New Testament is the Eucharist, that reading Scripture is not complete when taken out of the context of the Eucharist.”

Above all, Hahn suggested that presenting the Gospel message, the Eucharist and the riches of holy mother Church must always be done in a spirit of charity, honesty and good will, not through arguments, divisions or accusations.

“The good news offers us this: that the light of love will drive out darkness, along with prayer, fasting and praising,” Hahn said. “The way of the cross will always seem foolish to those who think themselves wise, and weak to those who think themselves strong.”

Mary Healy, Ph.D., professor of Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart, also offered commentary on the connection between the disciples on the road to Emmaus and the new evangelization. 

Jesus' breaking open the Scriptures underscores how important the early Christian community held the sacred writings, as well as the power of the holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist in the breaking of the bread. 

“This homily Jesus delivers, and later is repeated in the early Christian community, is 40-45 minutes long, with the presumption the audience knew and followed this theology,” Healy said. “If the Last Supper was not the Eucharist, than the crucifix was just an execution. The early Christian community knew this.”

This was later affirmed by St. John Paul II, who taught that the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of the Catholic faith, Healy added.  

“By participating (in the Eucharist), we’re entertaining into the wonderful gift of the covenant,” Healy said.

During his homily Saturday morning at nearby St. Aloysius Church in downtown Detroit, Bishop Flores emphasized not only the importance of recognizing and receiving the gift of the Eucharist, but in turn sharing that gift with others.

Mary's openness to receiving the incarnate Lord in the womb is the ultimate example of this sharing, Bishop Flores said.

“Mary was blessed by God for receiving Jesus, but those blessings are passed on to those to hear Jesus’ words,” Bishop Flores said. “Mary received Jesus, but then shared him with the world. So let us ask to imitate Mary’s joy, because she said yes, received the Lord and gave that grace to the world.”