Entry 25. A study of the 2nd chapter of Evangelii Gaudium: Facing the challenges that lie ahead.

                       

                              Pope Francis's tenderness shining through as he continues to remind us all that 

                              the answer to most of our world's problems  lies in  hope, faith, and love!!

 As I begin writing about Chapter II of Evangelii gaudium, I am a little intimidated by the task at hand. This is the chapter in which (among other things) the Pope’s views on the market economy and capitalism in general were pronounced. I have a minimal understanding of market economy theory, so it will be rather difficult for me to speak about his understanding of it. However, there was so  much attention given by the world at large to his comments that it will be impossible for me to avoid writing about it –no wonder I feel intimidated!!-. Back in December of 2013, it even seemed that everyone had a response to his ideas, with reactions to them ranging from utter anger and condemnation, to praise and adulation.

 Regardless of how the world has reacted to his words, we must remember that he was not criticizing capitalism just to please a certain segment of the population, or to challenge others. His desire continues to be focused on helping the Universal church take concrete steps towards becoming a better evangelizing entity. In his efforts to make that desire take flesh, he chooses to explore some of the challenges that could interfere with any positive steps the Church takes in becoming better at evangelizing. His reflection revolves around the idea of a ‘crisis of commitment’ that marks our world. The fact that he speaks of a crisis is powerful on its own, and is reflective of his deep hopes for the Church:  He knows that if the whole Universal Church was committed to serve others, the impact of the Church’s big heart would be felt on the entire world.  Knowing that this potential speaks about something that is authentic to our Church, he seems to wonder why is it that we’re not moving mountains with this big heart of ours.  This particular crisis he mentions addresses this issue rather well, which is why it's a theme that will be revisited in this chapter.

 However, in order to formally initiate his 2^nd chapter, Pope Francis discusses another subject that many of his predecessors have spoken about:  ‘the context in which we all have to live and work’ (EG 50). In other words, in this chapter, he is also going to take a good long look at the world, and highlight some of the challenges to justice that we encounter in it . Francis begins by speaking of a tendency in our world of dealing with our social problems with  ‘diagnostic overload’, which is rarely accompanied by a solution to the problems (EG 50).It may be surprising for some to hear that the Pope is tired of too much analysis, not enough action. Indeed, the more I speak to people( especially non Catholics) about the exciting ideas I hear from the Vatican, the more I get the dismissive scoff, or the ‘ it’s all talk, no action’ response. After a few decades of scandals and corruption in the Church, such a response is to be expected. Nonetheless, it’s still a shame that people are so jaded towards the Vatican, because everything that this Pontiff has been doing so far suggests that he is not a man that will hide behind pretty theologies and ideas. On the contrary, he is someone who strives to draw nearer to Christ in his own every day life, by constantly seeking for the growth of love and the active blossoming of justice in our world. By exhorting  the Universal Church on a similar path, he's inviting Her to move away from “employing an allegedly neutral and clinical method” (50)  to tackle the challenges of our world, and to focus instead on the approach of a missionary disciple, (quoting JPII) “nourished by the light and strength of the Holy Spirit”. (EG 50) 

 No matter how genuine his intention, there are still many in this world who would argue that the Pope and the Church in general should focus strictly on spiritual matters, and not be so eager to comment on temporal/wordly ones.Though I disagree with this position, I can see why it's expressed, and  I can almost understand why many believe that the opinions of the Church on certain social matters should be ignored and even mocked. Nevertheless, seeing that we’re a Church that practices a living faith, a faith that interacts, engages (and argues!!) with the world, it’s impossible for us to be silent when it comes to any issues that touches the lives of the faithful. And yet…Pope Francis himself admits that it’s not up to the Pope to provide an in depth analysis of contemporary reality. (EG 51)  Instead of doing that, he will "consider briefly, and from a pastoral perspective, certain factors which can restrain or weaken the impulse of missionary renewal in the Church." (EG 51) He’ll also ‘exhort’/ encourage the faithful and people of good will to be more vigilant, especially towards those ‘signs of the times’ that Vatican II spoke of. Those signs are important for Francis. When the Church spoke of them in the 60’s, the signs were an invitation f+or the Church to open itself to a dialog with a changing world, and for Her to be aware of the changes in our world so that she could better respond to challenges of the 20th/21st century. When Pope Francis uses this phrase, he’s speaking about the need to notice to pay attention to the trends in our world, especially the negative ones which, if  they go unnoticed, could “ set of processes of dehumanization (in our world), which would be later hard to reverse “ (EG 51)

 What he’s inviting us to may sound esoteric but there’s also something deeply simple about this exhortation to respond to signs that we see in our world. All he’s asking us to do is to discern more carefully between good and bad in our world and in doing so, to always be looking to distinguish/discern clearly what might be the fruits of the kingdom (God’s plans, desires for the world), and what runs counter to those fruits. (EG 51)  This is something many Christians already do at some level or another when they try to discern how God is working in their life…now the Pope is asking us to do this at a larger scale. What's important about this process of learning to determine where the good and the bad movements are in our world, is that it will lead us to a state of positive action: Either we will eventually chose the movement that seems to come from the  'good spirit', or we will reject what comes from the evil one. (EG 51)  Like many out there, I've always thought choosing the good over evil was such a simple task. Francis makes us reflect on how deep the evil has infiltrated our personal lives, and how much work there is to do to clean up the spiritual path we walk along,from all the clutter that's accumulated over the years. A challenging task. An intimidating one perhaps,but not one  any Catholic should ever shy away from. 
 Forgive me for the extra long blog entry! Much to discuss!
Have a blessed week!

                                   CHAPTER TWO

AMID THE CRISIS OF COMMUNAL COMMITMENT

50. Before taking up some basic questions related to the work of evangelization, it may be helpful to mention briefly the context in which we all have to live and work. Today, we frequently hear of a “diagnostic overload” which is not always accompanied by improved and actually applicable methods of treatment. Nor would we be well served by a purely sociological analysis which would aim to embrace all of reality by employing an allegedly neutral and clinical method. What I would like to propose is something much more in the line of an evangelical discernment. It is the approach of a missionary disciple, an approach “nourished by the light and strength of the Holy Spirit”.[53]

51. It is not the task of the Pope to offer a detailed and complete analysis of contemporary reality, but I do exhort all the communities to an “ever watchful scrutiny of the signs of the times”.[54] This is in fact a grave responsibility, since certain present realities, unless effectively dealt with, are capable of setting off processes of dehumanization which would then be hard to reverse. We need to distinguish clearly what might be a fruit of the kingdom from what runs counter to God’s plan. This involves not only recognizing and discerning spirits, but also – and this is decisive – choosing movements of the spirit of good and rejecting those of the spirit of evil. I take for granted the different analyses which other documents of the universal magisterium have offered, as well as those proposed by the regional and national conferences of bishops. In this Exhortation I claim only to consider briefly, and from a pastoral perspective, certain factors which can restrain or weaken the impulse of missionary renewal in the Church, either because they threaten the life and dignity of God’s people or because they affect those who are directly involved in the Church’s institutions and in her work of evangelization.