2. Joy of the Gospel
“ The Joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.” (EG #1)

3. Purpose and/or Objective
A Missionary Document
To exhort the whole Church to GO FORTH with a new missionary zeal.
“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.”
John Paul II speaking to the Bishops of Oceania: “All renewal in the Church must have mission as its goal if it is not to fall prey to a kind of ecclesial introversion.”

4. Characteristics of Pope Francis’ Vision of Pastoral Ministry
1. Pastoral Ministry is Missionary: “go forth”
2. Focused on the core of the Good News: “core”
3. Magnanimous: “all inclusive”
4. Gives Priority to the Poor: “the privileged”
5. Personal: “faces and names”
6. Convinced of Our Sacred Calling: “I am mission”

5. #1 A Missionary - Evangelizing Church
WHO ARE WE?
The Church is missionary by her very nature – therefore, in virtue of baptism all are called to be missionary-disciples. (my core identity) #120
WHAT IS OUR TASK?
Evangelization is the task of the Church
(make Good News present)
by Witness and Proclamation
(Evangelii Nuntiandi #41/42 - #22)

6. #2 Core of the Gospel
“Jesus Christ loves you; He gave His life to save you; and now He lives at your side everyday to enlighten, strengthen and free you.”(#164)

7. A Missionary – Evangelizing Church
WHO ARE WE?
The Church is missionary by her very nature – therefore, in virtue of baptism all are called to be missionary-disciples. (my core identity) #120
WHAT IS OUR TASK?
Evangelization is the task of the Church
(make Good News present)
by Witness and Proclamation
(Evangelii Nuntiandi #41/42 - #22)

8. EVANGELIZATION
WITNESS: “For the Church, the first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life People today put more trust in witnesses than teachers The witness of a Christian life is the first and irreplaceable form of mission.”
[Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi #41/#42]
PROCLAMATION: “The Good News proclaimed by the witness of life sooner or later has to be proclaimed by the word of life. There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth are not proclaimed.” [Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi ##22]

9. Gospel in A Nutshell
“Jesus Christ loves you; He gave His life to save you; and now He lives at your side everyday to enlighten, strengthen and free you.”(#164)

10. How easy/hard is it for you to say that you are a missionary
How easy/hard is it for you to say that you are a missionary? Implications?
Why does Pope Francis keep emphasizing the core of the Gospel? So, what?

11. “In Every Mission Experience
We Hear 5 Callings”
Do we not believe that God speaks to us in the midst of our everyday experiences? In speaking about the examination of conscience at the end of each day, St Ignatius instructed his brothers to ask themselves: “Where did I experience the presence and activity of God in my life today?” In every mission experience (be it for a day, week or a year) God exhorts and calls us to BE more and to DO more.
Are we listening?

12. #1 Called to Live With Less Rather Than More
“Christian spirituality proposes a growth marked by moderation and the capacity to be happy with little. It is a return to that simplicity which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things and not to succumb to sadness for what we lack.”
Pope Francis
Laudato Sí (#222)

13. “Theoretical poverty is of no use to us
“Theoretical poverty is of no use to us. Poverty is learned by touching the flesh of the poor Christ, in the humble, the poor, the sick, in children.”
Pope Francis Address To Superiors Generals May 2013

14. How do you hear this call to simple living as you engage in mission and/or in your pastoral ministry? What does it look like for you?

15. #2 Called to Be With
“The Church will have to initiate everyone into the ‘art of accompaniment’ which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other.”
Pope Francis EG #169

16. We are accustomed to thinking that helping people is either giving them something or doing something for them.
The challenge is to really believe that what the poor need most of all is for us to be willing to “be with” them – to befriend them..

17. #3 Called to Empower
Empowerment is about leadership, not just helping; it’s a long process that seeks permanent change. To empower people is to help them to become the subjects of their lives rather than the objects of our charity, i.e. to insure that people become self-reliant - able to sustain their own development.
“We need to grow in a solidarity which would allow all peoples to become the artisans of their destiny since every person is called to self-fulfillment” (EG: #190 – PP: Paul VI )

18. Huerta San Franscisco

19. Visiting David
September 14, 2016

20. “We need to grow in a solidarity which would allow all peoples to become the artisans of their destiny” (EG: #190)
What do you think of this thought of Pope Francis/Pope Paul VI? How does it challenge some of our notions of missionary activity?

21. #4 Called to Find Christ in the Poor
“We must learn to find Jesus in the faces of others, in their voices, in their pleas.”
Pope Francis EG #91

22. “In parts of the world like ours, Christ is being born here, physically, every moment of the day. He’s called Joel, Francisco, Antonio – but he is the Christ. Oh, how blind we are, how deaf we are! How hard it is to grasp that the Gospel is still going on.”
(Bsp. Helder Camara,
Recife, Brazil)

23. #5 Called to Engage in Ongoing Solidarity
“Among us only those who make the rights of brother and sister their duty, co-working liberation with them, can be said to act in solidarity.” (Bsp. Pedro Casadaliga)

24. (Benedict XVI –and EG #202)
Climate Control
Immigration Reform
Mass Incarceration
... as long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by attacking the structural causes of inequality no solution will be found for the world’s problems.”
(Benedict XVI –and EG #202)
Peace Initiatives
Federal; Budget
Nuclear Disarmament
Family Wage
Poverty Reduction

25. Immigration Reform
Mass Incarceration
Climate Control
“Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the Gospel, or in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation” (#6)
Statement of the Synod of Bishops
1971 “Justice in the World”
Peace Initiatives
Federal; Budget
Family Wage
Nuclear Disarmament
Poverty Reduction

26.  “Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the the Gospel, or in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation” (#6)
Statement of the Synod of Bishops
1971 “Justice in the World”

27. God Calls Us In The Midst of Our Daily Life Experiences

28. Conclusion
“Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, for enabling them to be fully a part of society. . . What is fundamental at this time in history is the inclusion of the poor in society. . .The Church has made a preferential option for the poor and I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. “
(EG- #185 – 198)

29. Thank You For Your Participation
Prepared by:
Matthew F. Rousso, Director
Maryknoll Mission Education Office
New Orleans, Louisiana