Pope Francis Calls Us All To Help With 'missionary Transformation'
Pope Francis states in his Introduction to “The Joy of the Gospel” that 1) the joy of Christians attracts others to Christ and His Gospel, 2) all Christians are called to hand on the faith, and 3) the three areas where we are called to transmit our faith – namely, those faithful to the Church, the inactive Catholic, and the unchurched. Chapter One devotes itself to “The Church’s Missionary Transformation.”
The Holy Father begins once again with the reminder that every Christian (not just priests and religious) and every Christian community are called to take part in this missionary activity of sharing the faith. Baptism calls us to this ministry. The Pope writes, “In fidelity to the example of the Master, it is vitally important for the Church today to … preach the Gospel to all; to all places, on all occasions, without hesitation, reluctance or fear. The joy of the Gospel is for all people: no one can be excluded” (paragraph 23).
Pope Francis’ vision is that because the Lord loves us (1 John 4:19), “we can move forward, boldly take the initiative, go out to others, seek those who have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and welcome the outcast. Such a community has an endless desire to show mercy, the fruit of its own experience of the power of the Father’s infinite mercy. Let us try a little harder to take the first step and to become involved” (paragraph 24). An evangelizing parish “gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances … it embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others … is also supportive, standing by people at every step of the way, no matter how difficult or lengthy this may prove to be” (paragraph 24).
He reminds us that the Church proclaims her faith and is herself deepened in that faith through the liturgy (paragraph 24). Our Sunday liturgies, if they are to deepen the faith of the participants, require the conscious and active participation of everyone present – not just the priest, deacon, choir, cantor, lector and liturgical ministers. Every Catholic must realize that his/her active participation is essential in strengthening the faith of their fellow worshippers.
Pope Francis challenges the Church not to “leave things as they presently are” (paragraph 25). The Church also needs continuing reform, as taught by Vatican II, since we are both a divine and human body of people. We need to “seek ways of expressing unchanging truths in a language which brings out their abiding newness. ‘The deposit of faith is one thing…the way it is expressed is another. There are times when the faithful, in listening to completely orthodox language, take away something alien to the authentic Gospel of Jesus Christ, because that language is alien to their own way of speaking to and understanding one another… we hold fast to a formulation while failing to convey its substance. This is the greatest danger. Let us never forget that ‘the expression of truth can take different forms. The renewal of these forms of expression becomes necessary for the sake of transmitting to the people of today the Gospel message in its unchanging meaning’” (paragraph 41).
Pope Francis realizes that Gospel message will not be understood or accepted by everyone (paragraph 42), but this should not frustrate us because our ministry depends upon God’s grace and an individual’s openness. The Holy Father does remind us that the greatest attraction to the Gospel “is reflected in the teacher’s way of life…” (paragraph 42).
