The commission.
In the previous entry, I spoke about the ball being in our court. It is. The good news?: We're not trying to hit that ball alone. Yes, we always have the Trinity accompanying us along the way, and we have the communion of saints praying for us in all that we do, but this pope has taken upon himself to give us a specific guideline which he encourages us to adopt in every activity we undertake. (EG 18) Obviously, this 'specific guideline' of over 200 points and close to 80 pages is a bit of a daunting document to appropriate. But it's important that we try, because Francis, guided by his love for God and by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, is trying to encourage and guide the whole Church towards an enthusiastic and vital way of evangelization (EG 17).
To accomplish this, he turns to Lumen Gentium, to explain different points that this new evangelization could focus on, from reforming the very way the Church does missionary outreach,to broadening our understanding of Church as an entire people of God which evangelizes (EG 17). When I read the 8 points that he mentions as his focus, I am faced with a bit of challenge: Part of the reason I began this blog is that, inspired by my Vatican II prof (who specifically invited us to pray this document), and by a classmate of mine who recently quoted rather extensively from this document in her own blog, I felt the call to really prayerfully analyze this document. Now, I'm not an analytical person per say, but I feel like I owe it to myself -and to whoever decides to read these- to really stay close to these 8 points he mentions in section 17. Therefore, from here on in, whenever he makes allusion to any of these points in the rest of the document, in the quoted text which I always include after my reflections, I will place a letter in brackets after a passage that I find relevant to any of these points. For example, if he were to say something like'one must labor hard to write a good homily that echoes the sentiment of the gospel readings' I'd put a (D) in the text, to remind us that 'homily and its preparation' was point D in the 8 points he intended to speak about. I'm not sure if that will help anyone at all...but it will help me stay connected to his vision...at least, I think it will. Time will tell!
The resistance I'm still feeling to this method is that there is something about evangelization that is about immediate action, not about analyzing the action. Less thinking, more doing seems to be a common theme in much of Pope Francis' work. Of course, if that were entirely true, he wouldn't have written such a long exhortation!! But at the end of the day, it's still an exhortation: We are called. Evangelization takes place in obedience to the missionary mandate of Jesus from Mt 28:19-20.(EG 19) There is something radically simple, and yet deeply complex about that call. Let us pray during this season of Advent, we all can learn to hear that call more effectively in our lives, as we continue to unite ourselves with Jesus and with all of creation.
To accomplish this, he turns to Lumen Gentium, to explain different points that this new evangelization could focus on, from reforming the very way the Church does missionary outreach,to broadening our understanding of Church as an entire people of God which evangelizes (EG 17). When I read the 8 points that he mentions as his focus, I am faced with a bit of challenge: Part of the reason I began this blog is that, inspired by my Vatican II prof (who specifically invited us to pray this document), and by a classmate of mine who recently quoted rather extensively from this document in her own blog, I felt the call to really prayerfully analyze this document. Now, I'm not an analytical person per say, but I feel like I owe it to myself -and to whoever decides to read these- to really stay close to these 8 points he mentions in section 17. Therefore, from here on in, whenever he makes allusion to any of these points in the rest of the document, in the quoted text which I always include after my reflections, I will place a letter in brackets after a passage that I find relevant to any of these points. For example, if he were to say something like'one must labor hard to write a good homily that echoes the sentiment of the gospel readings' I'd put a (D) in the text, to remind us that 'homily and its preparation' was point D in the 8 points he intended to speak about. I'm not sure if that will help anyone at all...but it will help me stay connected to his vision...at least, I think it will. Time will tell!
The resistance I'm still feeling to this method is that there is something about evangelization that is about immediate action, not about analyzing the action. Less thinking, more doing seems to be a common theme in much of Pope Francis' work. Of course, if that were entirely true, he wouldn't have written such a long exhortation!! But at the end of the day, it's still an exhortation: We are called. Evangelization takes place in obedience to the missionary mandate of Jesus from Mt 28:19-20.(EG 19) There is something radically simple, and yet deeply complex about that call. Let us pray during this season of Advent, we all can learn to hear that call more effectively in our lives, as we continue to unite ourselves with Jesus and with all of creation.
17. Here I have chosen to present
some guidelines which can encourage and guide the whole Church in a new phase
of evangelization, one marked by enthusiasm and vitality. In this context, and
on the basis of the teaching of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium,
I have decided, among other themes, to discuss at length the following
questions:
a) the reform of the Church in her
missionary outreach;
b) the temptations faced by pastoral workers;
c) the Church, understood as the entire People of God which evangelizes;
d) the homily and its preparation;
e) the inclusion of the poor in society;
f) peace and dialogue within society;
g) the spiritual motivations for mission.
b) the temptations faced by pastoral workers;
c) the Church, understood as the entire People of God which evangelizes;
d) the homily and its preparation;
e) the inclusion of the poor in society;
f) peace and dialogue within society;
g) the spiritual motivations for mission.
18. I have dealt extensively with
these topics, with a detail which some may find excessive. But I have done so,
not with the intention of providing an exhaustive treatise but simply as a way
of showing their important practical implications for the Church’s mission
today. All of them help give shape to a definite style of evangelization which
I ask you to adoptin every activity which you undertake. In this way, we
can take up, amid our daily efforts, the biblical exhortation: “Rejoice in the
Lord always; again I will say: Rejoice” (Phil 4:4).
CHAPTER ONE
19. Evangelization takes place in
obedience to the missionary mandate of Jesus: “Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20).
In these verses we see how the risen Christ sent his followers to preach the
Gospel in every time and place, so that faith in him might spread to every
corner of the earth.
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