Novena of Bl. James, Day 8

Reading:
Synod of Bishops 2012 document (Lineamenta), nn. 6, 13:

Through migration “our societies are experiencing an unprecedented encounter and mixing of cultures….In such a situation, the new evangelization can provide the opportunity no longer to perceive the Church's mission as a north-south or west-east dynamic but one which transcends the geographic confines of past missionary activity. Today, all five continents are fields of missionary activity. We must also seek to understand the sectors and places in life where faith is absent, not simply as a result of drifting from the faith but from never having encountered it. Transcending the geographic confines of former missionary activity means having the capacity to raise the question of God at every moment in the encounters created by the mixing and rebuilding of the fabric of society….”

“Migrants must not simply be evangelized but be trained themselves to be evangelizing agents.”

Bl. James writes:

"Today there is a greater and greater sense of confusion: the ills of scientism and pure technique. Each and every science, invention and discovery is a chapter in the great book of creation; each is a body of knowledge of God’s creative work; each must serve as a means for humans to reach God, as the eye, the tongue and the will are an aid to them. But just as it often happens that some fail to ask themselves: 'Where do I come from? Where am I going? Why am I alive?' so, too, with knowledge, inventions and discoveries. Delighting only in possessing them, they do not ask 'Who made them? Why do I have them? What are they for?'All things must serve human beings, with a view to Jesus Christ, to God, in accord with [the words of] Saint Paul: 'Omnia vestra sunt, vos autem Christi, Christus autem Dei' (Everything is yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's).
Studied in depth, the sciences lead to Jesus Christ, who is the way to God; that is, they prepare [the way] to receive the revelation of Jesus Christ; who, as God, while creating things enlightened humans to know them, willed to reveal other truths not impressed in nature, in order to uplift humans; [and] thus prepare them to see God, welcomed and believed through revelation, if they have used their reason properly."

Prayer: O God, who raised up in  your Church Blessed James Alberione, priest, to proclaim your Son as the Way, the Truth and the Life through the many forms of communication, grant, we beseech you, that we may follow his example and devote ourselves to preaching the Gospel to all nations. Through Christ our Lord.