The Role of the Papacy and the Bishops of the Church

32. Since I am called to put into practice what I ask of others, I too must think about a conversion of the papacy. It is my duty, as the Bishop of Rome, to be open to suggestions which can help make the exercise of my ministry more faithful to the meaning which Jesus Christ wished to give it and to the present needs of evangelization. …We have made little progress in this regard. The papacy and the central structures of the universal Church also need to hear the call to pastoral conversion. The Second Vatican Council stated that … episcopal conferences are in a position “to contribute in many and fruitful ways to the concrete realization of the collegial spirit”. Yet this desire has not been fully realized, since a juridical status of episcopal conferences ... including genuine doctrinal authority, has not yet been sufficiently elaborated. Excessive centralization, rather than proving helpful, complicates the Church’s life and her missionary outreach.

33. Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: “We have always done it this way”. I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities. A proposal of goals without an adequate communal search for the means of achieving them will inevitably prove illusory. I encourage everyone to apply the guidelines found in this document generously rand courageously, without inhibitions or fear. The important thing is to not walk alone, but to rely on each other as brothers and sisters, and especially under the leadership of the bishops, in a wise and realistic pastoral discernment.

The Bond of Perfection

Like many folks, I often joke, "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it.  I need some direction.!"

Today's second reading from the Feast of the Holy Family (Col. 3:12-21) gives all the direction you need for good family life.  In fact, I think it's about as succinct a statement of how to live a Christian life as I have heard.

Put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another (if one has a grievance against another) as the Lord has forgiven you.  And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

 Well, just the ticket, but . . . not so easy to implement.  A 2014 resolution?

Fervor for the Gospel

29. Other Church institutions, basic communities and small communities, movements, and forms of association are a source of enrichment for the Church, raised up by the Spirit for evan- gelizing different areas and sectors. Frequently they bring a new evangelizing fervour and a new capacity for dialogue with the world whereby the Church is renewed. But it will prove beneficial for them not to lose contact with the rich reality of the local parish and to participate readily in the overall pastoral activity of the particular Church. This kind of integration will prevent them from concentrating only on part of the Gospel or the Church, or becoming nomads without roots.

Having myself been re-evangelized by the Cursillo movement, I found the Pope's observation to be especially relevant to me. I've been at times steeped in both Cursillo activity and in parish activity. The Cursillo movement possesses an enthusiasm and devotion to the work of the Holy Spirit that is difficult to find in parish life. Its dedication to bring the world the Christ is an evangelizing attitude that is not prevalent in the parish. In fact, I'm beginning to see a movement in the Church toward a spiritual interiority reminiscent of my childhood, pre-Vatican II days. Then, the Liturgy was strictly a personal encounter with Jesus in which I repented of my sins. Of course it is that. But, the idea that I would invade the personal spiritual space of my neighbor by openly professing my faith was never emphasized. My responsibility to joyfully proclaim the Gospel was not taught to me. The idea that I would  "bring a new evangelizing fervour and a new capacity for dialogue with the world" was never mentioned.
The Pope's admonition to certain movements to  "prevent them from concentrating only on part of the Gospel or the Church, or becoming nomads without roots" can be equally applied to the Parish community.

a) the reform of the Church in her missionary outreach;

For me, the most appealing characteristic of our new Pope is the refreshing way he turns his eye to the Church and critically examines her. He praises her for all the good that she does (see the post of Dec 9),  but is critical of her faults as well. Like we are called to self examination and metanoia in the sacrament of reconciliation, so too is the Church called to self examination and renewal.

a) the reform of the Church in her missionary outreach;

26. Paul VI invited us to deepen the call to renewal and to make it clear that renewal does not only concern individuals but the entire Church. ... "The Church must look with penetrating eyes within herself, ponder the mystery of her own being ...This vivid and lively self-awareness inevitably leads to a comparison between the ideal image of the Church as Christ envisaged her and loved her ... and the actual image which the Church presents to the world today... This is the source of the Church’s heroic and impatient struggle for renewal: the struggle to correct those flaws introduced by her members which her own self-examination, mirroring her exemplar, Christ, points out to her and condemns”

27. I dream of a “missionary option”, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation. ...

28. The parish is not an outdated institution; precisely because it possesses great flexibility, it can assume quite different contours depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor and the community. ... This presumes that it really is in contact with the homes and the lives of its people, and does not become a useless structure out of touch with people or a self-absorbed group made up of a chosen few. The parish is the presence of the Church in a given territory, an environment for hearing God’s word, for growth in the Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration. In all its activities the parish encourages and trains its members to be evangelizers. ... We must admit, though, that the call to review and renew our parishes has not yet sufficed to bring them nearer to people, to make them environments of living communion and participation, and to make them completely mission-oriented. 

The Attitude of the Evangelizer

John 6:56

56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.

The Israelites were aghast at these words of Jesus. Some of the words below confront we moderns in almost the same way. They may not be ghastly, but they certainly are scarey and test the foundation of our faith. The emphases are mine.

from Evangelii Gaudium

24. The Church which “goes forth” is a community of missionary disciples who take the first step, who are involved and supportive, who bear fruit and rejoice. An evangelizing community knows that the Lord has taken the initiative, he has loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19), and therefore 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, … . Let us try a little harder to take the first step and to become involved. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. The Lord gets involved and he involves his own, as he kneels to wash their feet. He tells his disciples: “You will be blessed if you do this” (Jn 13:17). An evangelizing community gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase itself if necessary, and it embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others. Evangelizers thus take on the “smell of the sheep” and the sheep are willing to hear their voice. An evangelizing community is also supportive, standing by people at every step of the way, no matter how difficult or lengthy this may prove to be. It is familiar with patient expectation and apostolic endurance. Evangelization consists mostly of patience and disregard for constraints of time. Faithful to the Lord’s gift, it also bears fruit. An evangelizing community is always concerned with fruit, because the Lord wants her to be fruitful. It cares for the grain and does not grow impatient at the weeds. The sower, when he sees weeds sprouting among the grain does not grumble or overreact. He or she finds a way to let the word take flesh in a particular situation and bear fruits of new life, however imperfect or incomplete these may appear. The disciple is ready to put his or her whole life on the line, even to accepting martyrdom, in bearing witness to Jesus Christ, yet the goal is not to make enemies but to see God’s word accepted and its capacity for liberation and renewal revealed. Finally an evangelizing community is filled with joy; it knows how to rejoice always. It celebrates every small victory, every step forward in the work of evangelization. Evangelization with joy becomes beauty in the liturgy, as part of our daily concern to spread goodness. The Church evangelizes and is herself evangelized through the beauty of the liturgy, which is both a celebration of the task of evangelization and the source of her renewed self-giving.

Evangelize Who? Who, me?

Evangelize, proclaim the Good News! A scarey thought for most Catholics, especially when you live in a world where Jesus' name is met with derision and the mention of Catholicism is met with complaints of the Church's inordinate wealth and priest's abuse of children. (see post of December 9th)

Evangelization does not require us to "sell" anyone on the virtues of being Catholic. It only requires that we live our faith. We can be identified as Christians by the way we love one another. If we make our faith an integral part of all that we do in all our daily activities, we will be great evangelizers.

Pope Francis, before he begins his instructions, lays out what issues he will address in his letter. The emphasis in bold is mine.

14. ... The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith
the new evangelization is a summons addressed to all and ... it is carried out in three principal settings

15. In first place, we can mention the area of ordinary pastoral ministry, which is “animated by the fire of the Spirit, so as to inflame the hearts of the faithful who regularly take part in commu- nity worship and gather on the Lord’s day to be nourished by his word and by the bread of eter- nal life”. In this category we can also include those members of faithful who preserve a deep and sincere faith, expressing it in different ways, but seldom taking part in worship. Ordinary pastoral ministry seeks to help believers to grow spiritually so that they can respond to God’s love ever more fully in their lives.

A second area is that of “the baptized whose lives do not reflect the demands of Baptism”, who lack a meaningful relationship to the Church and no longer experience the consolation born of faith. The Church, in her maternal concern, tries to help them experience a conversion which will restore the joy of faith to their hearts and inspire a commitment to the Gospel.

Lastly, we cannot forget that evangelization is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him. Many of them are quietly seeking God, led by a yearning to see his face, even in countries of ancient Christian tradition.

Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they [evangelizers] should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet. It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but “by attraction”.

17. Here I have chosen to present some guidelines which can encourage and guide the whole Church in a new phase of evangelization ... 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.

The Living History That Surrounds Us

Faced with the ever increasing rate of change in our lives, we spend an inordinate amount of time keeping up with things. Lifetime jobs are rare, today's iPad is tomorrow's obsolescence and living in the same city all your life is a rarity. We try to keep up every day with an eye focused on the future. In this kind of environment it is no wonder that we have lost our appreciation of the past.
So much of who and what we are stems from the past. Yet, there seems to be a decided lack of appreciation for history. Newness is a necessity. Old ideas don't fit our views anymore and must be revised and a new face put on them.
A recent media-induced controversy regarding the race and ethnicity of Santa Claus is a good example of our efforts to ignore the past. With little effort the source of the Santa Claus myth (sorry kids) can be traced back to the 4th century Saint Nicholas of Myra, a man whose race and ethnicity are fairly well established. The story of St. Nicholas and its development over the centuries is quite wonderful and for our children can provide many valuable lessons in care for the poor and generosity. It can instill in their hearts a deeper appreciation of Christmas and a sense of the rich past in which it has evolved.
In one of his talks Gil Bailie once said that he was a Christian because he knew someone, who new someone, who knew someone ... who knew St. Peter, who knew Jesus Christ. The Christian faith is because of the testimony of those who came before us.
In his letter, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis in his comments on evangelizing touches on this point.

13. Nor should we see the newness of this mission as entailing a kind of displacement or forgetfulness of the living history which surrounds us and carries us forward. Memory is a dimension of our faith which we might call “deuteronomic”, not unlike the memory of Israel itself. Jesus leaves us the Eucharist as the Church’s daily remembrance of, and deeper sharing in, the event of his Passover (cf. Lk 22:19). The joy of evangelizing always arises from grateful remembrance: it is a grace which we constantly need to implore. The apostles never forgot the moment when Jesus touched their hearts: “It was about four o’clock in the afternoon” (Jn 1:39). Together with Jesus, this remembrance makes present to us “a great cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1), some of whom, as believers, we recall with great joy: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God” (Heb 13:7). Some of them were ordinary people who were close to us and introduced us to the life of faith: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice” (2 Tim 1:5). The believer is essentially “one who remembers”.