Yesterday afternoon I had the privilege to attend the 3^rd Annual Catechetical Symposium presented by the Diocese of Phoenix Kino Institute. I was pretty fired up to attend since my former academic advisor and professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Scott Hahn, was the keynote speaker. He spoke on the Catechism of the Catholic Church (also referred to as the CCC) and the New Evangelization – two topics that are very close to my heart and one that is the soul of this blog.

Knowing what the Catholic Bishops from the recent Synod in Rome had said about the New Evangelization taking place in Social Media, I brought my Apple MacBook Pro with me so I could tweet about the event and tweet some of the things Scott Hahn would talk about. After it was said and done, I had tweeted 42 times and could have really tweeted 84 times, if I was a faster typist.

To say that he gave us a lot to think about would be the understatement of the week. One of the biggest statements Scott Hahn made was how the Catechism of the Catholic Church would be the tool of the New Evangelization. If we want to re-evangelize the uncatechized or those cradle Catholics who were never catechized in the first place, we have the Catechism to lead the way. Below are some of my tweets from today. There are quite a few good ones I didn’t quote – check them out at @tom_perna on Twitter.

The Tweets below were either direct quotes or me paraphrasing to fit 140 characters –

Vatican II documents mention the term – evangelization – 206 times. ‪#vatican2

‪#NewEvangelization was coined in 1979 by ‪#BLJP2 in his native land of Poland.

‪#BLJP2 blew up the ‪#NewEvangelization in the document – Mission of the Redeemer.

‪#B16 is taking the torch of the ‪#NewEvangelization from ‪#BLJP2. The ‪#NewEvangelization is our marching orders. ‪#Catholic ‪#ScottHahn

We need to evangelize ourselves. Conversion is important for each of us. ‪#Catholic ‪#ScottHahn

The teachings of the Church don’t become ours until we TEACH them to others. ‪#NewEvangelization

We must come to know the term – Evangelical Catholic. ‪#ScottHahn ‪#NewEvangelization

“We are re-evangelizing the uncatechized.” ‪#ScottHahn ‪#NewEvangelization

The NewEvengelization is not a short-term process, but a life long journey. ‪#ScottHahn ‪#NewEvangelization

“The ‪#CCC is the most Scriptural saturated Catechism in the history of the Catholic Church.” ‪#ScottHahn

‪#BLJP2 and ‪#B16 have given us a tool – it’s called the Catechism of the Catholic Church. ‪#ScottHahn ‪#Catholic ‪#NewEvangelization

‪#CCC will unlock doors for the ‪#NewEvangelization. The ‪#CCC is not well understood or appreciated…not yet. ‪#ScottHahn

I would encourage you pick up the Catechism of the Catholic Church and begin reading it as soon as possible so you can appreciate this important document. You can subscribe to Flocknote.com/catechism and they will send you excerpts on a daily basis of the Catechism.

The Twitter account @CatechismAPI and their website – Catholic Cross Reference is also another avenue that will assist you with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. @DailyCatechism is yet another Twitter account. The CCC has a Compendium that correlates with it and there is also the YOUCAT – the catechism that is written for the youth of the Catholic Church.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it – Buy a Catechism of the Catholic Church, Read it, and evangelize others with it. The New Evangelization begins with you!  One more thing…in the words of Jesus Christ and Blessed John Paul II – BE NOT AFRAID!