Quello che presento di seguito è un video di Martha Fernández-Sardina (*), una donna straordinaria, responsabile dell'Ufficio per la Nuova Evangelizzazione della Arcidiocesi di San Antonio, Texas. Martha presenta qui la
Lettera Apostolica in forma di "Motu
Proprio" Porta fidei con la quale Benedetto XVI ha indetto l'Anno
della fede (11 ottobre 2011). In inglese...
(*): Martha Fernández-Sardina is a bilingual speaker, trainer, and ministry consultant whose life mission is to prepare the way of the Lord (Jn.1:23, Is.40:3), echoing the Church’s call for a new evangelization and a new springtime for the Gospel. With
over 20 years of experience in the fields of evangelization,
catechesis, apologetics, and youth and young adult ministry, Martha’s
apostolate has included planning, chairing, and speaking at numerous
diocesan, national, and international conferences, seminars, retreats,
prayer workshops, and parish missions in the U.S. and abroad; forming
parish evangelization teams; developing training and outreach programs,
including the Hispanic Festival of Faith and the Hispanic Month of Evangelization; producing and hosting TV and radio shows; and assisting organizations wanting to reach Spanish-speakers.
Martha earned a degree in Psychometry and Psychological Investigation, a Licentiate in Clinical Psychology Magna Cum Laude, and a Master of Arts in Theology and Christian Ministry with honors,
but is most honored by the first public recognition of her call to the
new evangelization: a high school graduation plaque given to her
acknowledging her “desire to know the Lord and make Him known to others.” Martha
has served as a member of several boards, including the Diocesan
Evangelization Ministries Committee of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops Commission on Catholic Evangelization, and the
Editorial Board of Share The Word magazine, and has been a
member of various national organizations, including the National Council
for Catholic Evangelization (NCCE), the Association of Coordinators of
Catholic Schools of Evangelization for North America and the Caribbean
(ACCSE/2000), the Catholic Leadership Conference, the Colebrook Society,
and N.E.A.-New Evangelization of America.
A skilled evangelist, trainer, and lecturer, Martha has
touched the lives of thousands of Spanish- and English-speaking
individuals of all ages and ethnic backgrounds through engaging radio
and TV shows, insightful articles, and hundreds of lively talks at
conferences, workshops, parish missions, and retreats in almost every
state in the U.S., in Canada, Portugal, Italy, Brazil, Australia, and
Dominican Republic, helping Catholics “rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith” (Porta Fidei, 7) and become saintly effective everyday evangelized evangelizers by obeying the command to “duc in altum” (“put out into the deep”) and perform a “net-busting” and “boat-sinking” miraculous catch as “fishers of men” during the Year of Faith and throughout the Third Christian Millennium.
Martha has been featured in Envoy magazine, interviewed on Vatican Radio, on Relevant Radio’s Morning Air, and on EWTN Radio’s Son Rise Morning Show, and has been a guest on numerous television shows, including EWTN Live, Nuestra Fe En Vivo, Cara A Cara, Franciscan University Presents, and Life On The Rock. She is the author of Ten Things To Expect From The Year of Faith; Twelve Tips for Effective Catholic Evangelization; Seven Tips for Welcoming Hispanic Catholics Into Parish Life; a series titled What Do The New Evangelization, (World Youth Day, Immigrants, Religious Freedom, Catechesis…), and You Have In Common; and New Evangelization for Dummies – A Reference for the Rest of Us!, a collection of tips for personal and parish evangelization. A former columnist for the Catholic Standard in Washington, DC, Martha currently writes for Today’s Catholic (satodayscatholic.com) and Evangelization Exchange (pemdc.org), and has published articles in The Good News Newsletter, El Pregonero, Evangelization Update, Share The Word, New Evangelization 2000, and Alabanza.
As Director of the Office for Evangelization for the Archdiocese of
San Antonio in Texas, Martha helps parishes, schools, apostolates, and
families become evangelized and evangelizing communities of faith (archsa.org/Evangelization),
where she regularly provides inspiring talks, practical training
workshops, and in-services, and spearheads the Annual Archdiocesan
Pentecost Eve Vigil Mass and Celebration with lay ecclesial movements
and new communities, apostolates, ministries, organizations, and lay
Orders. Having co-produced and co-hosted two weekly radio shows in the
U.S. and overseas, Martha now produces and hosts Prepare The Way,
a weekly TV show dedicated to the new evangelization which airs on
Catholic Television of San Antonio and can be seen on YouTube (YouTube.com/user/iEvangelize1) and Vimeo (Vimeo.com/channels/iEvangelize.) She blogs (iEvangelize.wordpress.com),
tweets (iEvangelize), and is on Facebook. As Director of the Office for
Evangelization of the Archdiocese of Washington in D.C. for 8 years,
Martha provided ongoing support, training, and resources to evangelizers
and leaders of 141 parishes, 28 Hispanic communities, and numerous
apostolates and ethnic groups. She conceived and implemented for three
consecutive years a Month of Evangelization and a Hispanic Festival of Faith, winning the attention of The Washington Post and The Catholic Digest.
As Assistant Continental Director and Director of the Prayer Campaign
of Evangelization 2000/North America and the Caribbean, Martha worked
with leaders around the world promoting the 1990s as a “Decade of
Evangelization.” Her work included assisting in the development of
evangelization training schools, producing newsletters, conducting
prayer workshops, and assisting Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the
Missionaries of Charity with their Veronica Intercessors for Priests
prayer project. As a language and Hispanic culture consultant, Martha
has provided simultaneous interpretation nationally and internationally,
translates works for publication, and helps organizations wanting to
reach Spanish-speaking audiences.
A native of New York, Martha grew up between Miami and Dominican
Republic in a bilingual and tri-cultural household, allowing her to
experience the blessings and challenges of living “between languages and
cultures” – which has helped her foster unity in diversity in
ministry. Martha feels she was “born to evangelize.” Yet, while Martha’s
commitment to clear, relevant, and sound teaching allows her to inspire
thousands of English and Spanish-speaking youth, young adults, and
adults in the U.S. and abroad, Martha remains especially committed to
her own ongoing conversion and growth in love of God and neighbor. With
our heavenly homeland constantly on her mind, Martha has committed her
life to serving the Lord wherever, however, whenever, and with whomever He wishes and to becoming a saint