Today, considering the Council's call to read the signs of "the" time, what are the signs of "our" time?  Are there changes in the human family, the local society, the broader world that need a fresh, a new, a thoughtful response? Seemingly, these changes are everywhere. As a trained historian with theological and philosophical formation as well as pastoral and business credentials, I am loath to attempt to prognosticate about the future or to offer facile solutions for the present. Academic disciplines are not magic crystal balls to foretell the future, nor are they simple recipe-books from which to confect responses to emerging problems. Rather, I believe, as a Christian, a priest, and a Dominican, that they are tools honed by a life of prayer, study and, service in order to examine thoughtfully the past and to respond well to the present as we prepare meaningfully for the future. Teresa read the signs of her time and responded with faith, engagement, and courage? Do we?

Today, in view of the signs of our time, seemingly the New Evangelization means imagining and responding beyond merely repeating what we already know and what others have already heard. Analogously as Teresa's Spanish wisdom was translated into English, the eternal and enduring veracity of the Gospel message needs to be translated into a different language—into a language that is sound and summoning as well as enduring and transforming—into a message that might attract the people of our time—a people genuinely hungry for the deeply satisfying spiritual sustenance that the Gospel message offers. Yet, increasingly

-- Fr. David Orique, OP