Resource Documents

The following documents can provide insight into Nothing More Beautiful and the new evangelization.

Homily of Archbishop Richard Smith on the Feast of Triumph of the Cross, September 14, 2008

“…God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16.)

Our Gospel passage for today, taken from St. John, is a summons to joy and hope. It announces the love of God for his people, and describes that love as active and near. God does not remain distant from his people, indifferent to their needs. On the contrary, God comes to us and steps into our human reality, complete with its joys and sorrows, hopes and pains, in order to lift us up, to be our strength and to save us from all that endangers us. Full text

Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Smith on the Solemnity of Pentecost, May 11, 2008

In St. Paul’s first letter to the Christian community at Corinth he speaks beautifully of the wonderful diversity of gifts given to the Church for the service of God and His people: “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.” (1 Corinthians 12: 4-6.) We celebrate on Pentecost Sunday the bestowal of the Holy Spirit to the Church and the gifts He instills in the disciples of Jesus Christ. I give God thanks for what is truly a wonderful variety of charisms and good works among the faithful of the Archdiocese of Edmonton.  From the Christian witness I have encountered during my first year as your Archbishop, it is clear that many of you have been touched and transformed by the beauty of the Gospel. Through this letter I wish to thank you for your wonderful service to the Church. At the same time I wish to invite you to participate in an important initiative by which we can share with others the joy that we have found in our encounter with Jesus Christ. Full text

Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI at Mass of his Inauguration – April 2005

“There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with him.”  Full text

Gaudium et Spes, 22 – Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World – Pope Paul VI (especially Ch.1, The Dignity of the Human Person)

“It is only in the mystery of the Word incarnate that light is shed on the mystery of the human being.”
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Internet: A New Forum for Proclaiming the Gospel – Message for 36th World Communications Day – Pope John Paul II

"The Church approaches this new medium with realism and confidence. Like other communications media, it is a means, not an end in itself. The Internet can offer magnificent opportunities for evangelization if used with competence and a clear awareness of its strengths and weaknesses. Above all, by providing information and stirring interest it makes possible an initial encounter with the Christian message, especially among the young who increasingly turn to the world of cyberspace as a window on the world. It is important, therefore, that the Christian community think of very practical ways of helping those who first make contact through the Internet to move from the virtual world of cyberspace to the real world of Christian community." Full text

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) speaks on The New Evangelization

"Human life cannot be realized by itself. Our life is an open question, an incomplete project, still to be brought to fruition and realized. Each man´s fundamental question is: How will this be realized -- becoming man? How does one learn the art of living? Which is the path toward happiness?

"To evangelize means: to show this path -- to teach the art of living. At the beginning of his public life Jesus says: I have come to evangelize the poor (Luke 4:18); this means: I have the response to your fundamental question; I will show you the path of life, the path toward happiness -- rather: I am that path." Full text