We Are Church Intl.

10 “Consequently, an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!” 

 

So, with EG, the era of the beleaguered Church, the defensive Church, the barricaded Church is over. The Church that sees the ‘culture of death’ everywhere and no signs of God’s kingdom breaking through is in the past. The Church that won’t be stained or defiled, the introspective Church, seemingly obsessed with sexual conduct and sexual morality, the glum Church with too many ‘sourpusses’ is put behind us.

 

As John XXIII’s encyclical proclaimed, the Church is ‘Mater et Magistra’ – ‘Mother and Teacher’.  Surely for the last 15 years we have had an excess of ‘Magistra’ with the institutional Church too often resembling a courtroom peopled by over-zealous lawyers, barristers, policemen and judges pursuing, and sometimes excluding, those deemed in error.

 

Now Francis is moving the Church back into ‘Mater’ mode. EG describes the Church as ‘a mother with an open heart’. The image for the Church suggested now is a field hospital, open and welcoming to all, peopled by pastors, doctors and nurses, and offering healing and care to the tired and weary, to the rambling shambling pilgrim People of God.

 

It becomes clear that the ‘new evangelisation’ is not some ingenious fancy methodology using Facebook and Twitter, social media novelties and online tricks to attract new believers. No, the new evangelisation is a root and branch renewal of the old evangelisation. Above all that means a root and branch renewal of evangelisers - all of us, the whole infantry of missionary disciples.

 

33 We must “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 and courageously, without inhibitions or fear. The important thing is not to 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.”

 

Relax – and do it!

 

As we change the music of our song from a funeral march to Beethoven’s Ninth and the ‘Ode for Joy’ or a Brazilian tango rhythm there are three blocks of reassurance in EG which may help overcome our fears and hesitations. I put them under three headings 1) Hierarchy of Truths; 2) Development & Rearticulation of Doctrine and Inculturation of Faith Practice; 3) An Inclusive Church.

 

Hierarchy of Truths

 

Although often forgotten EG reminds us that we have in the Church first, second and third order truths. It will serve our reflections well.

 

36  “In this sense, the Second Vatican Council explained that in Catholic doctrine there exists an order or a ‘hierarchy’ of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith. This holds true as much for the dogmas of faith as for the whole corpus of the Church’s teaching, including her moral teaching.”

 

34 “…certain issues which are part of the Church’s moral teaching are continually taken out of the context which gives them their meaning… and the message we preach then seems identified with those secondary aspects   of Christ’s message.” 

 

35 “Pastoral ministry in a missionary style is not obsessed with the disjointed transmission of a multitude of doctrines to be insistently imposed.”

 

38 “First, it needs to be said that in preaching the Gospel a fitting sense of proportion has to be maintained. This would be seen in the frequency with which certain themes are brought up and in the emphasis given to them in preaching. For example, if in the course of the liturgical year a parish priest speaks about temperance ten times but only mentions charity or justice two or three times, an imbalance results….The same thing happens when we speak more about law than about grace, more about the Church than about Christ, more about the Pope than about God’s word.”

 

39 “Christian morality is not a form of stoicism, or self-denial…or a catalogue of sins and faults. Before all else, the Gospel invites us to respond to the God of love who saves us, to see God in others and to go forth from ourselves to seek the good of others.”

 

Inculturation and Rearticulation of Teaching.

 

I imagine theologians will be happy that EG recognises and values their role. Equally helpful is the acknowledgment that proper mutual respect is imperative as science and faith dialogue and interact.

 

40 “Differing currents of thought in philosophy, theology and pastoral practice…can enable the Church to grow, since all of them help to express more clearly the immense riches of God’s word. For those who long for a monolithic body of doctrine guarded by all and leaving no room for nuance, this might appear as undesirable and leading to confusion. But in fact such variety serves to bring out and develop different facets of the inexhaustible riches of the Gospel.”

 

243 “The Church has no wish to hold back the marvellous progress of science….Whenever the sciences – rigorously focused on their specific field of inquiry – arrive at a conclusion which reason cannot refute, faith does not contradict it.”

 

122 “Once the Gospel has been inculturated in a people, in their process of transmitting their culture they also transmit the faith in ever new forms; hence the importance of understanding evangelization as inculturation. Each portion of the people of God, by translating the gift of God into its own life and in accordance with its own genius, bears witness to the faith it has received and enriches it with new and eloquent expressions.” 

 

41 “At the same time, today’s vast and rapid cultural changes demand that we constantly seek ways of expressing unchanging truths in a language which brings out their abiding newness. The deposit of the 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….In this way, we hold fast to a formulation while failing to convey its substance.”

 

An Inclusive Church

 

46 “A Church which “goes forth” is a Church whose doors are open…we have to be like the father of the prodigal son, who always keeps his door open for when the son returns….”

 

47 “…our church doors should always be open… nor should the doors of the sacraments be closed for simply any reason. This is especially true of the sacrament which is itself “the door”: baptism. The Eucharist…is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak....Frequently, we act as arbiters of grace rather than its facilitators. But the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.”

 

That is poor and rich, women, children and men, black and white, refugees and migrants, unmarried and married, documented and undocumented, homosexual, heterosexual and transsexual, young and the frail elderly, the healthy and people with HIV, clerics and lay folk, saints and sinners all.

 

But to whom should we go first? The poor, the sick and those who are usually despised and overlooked?

 

48 “There can be no room for doubt or for explanations which weaken so clear a message. Today and always the poor are the privileged recipients of the Gospel; and the fact that it is freely preached to them is a sign of the kingdom that Jesus came to establish. We have to state, without mincing words, that there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor. May we never abandon them.”

 

And perhaps in reference to those clergy “who prefer cassocks, crew-cuts and cufflinks to compassion, cheer and charity”:-

 

49 “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security... my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: Give them something to eat (Mk 6:37).” 

 

Temptations Faced by Pastoral Workers

In summary EG looks at the crisis in the world and the crisis in the Church and leaves us, on each, with four times “thou-shalt-not” or what we might mischievously describe as an octet of anathemas.

• No to an economy of exclusion and inequality!

53 “Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?”

 

54 “…some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralised workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.”

This paragraph has brought heated controversy in the US[xii].

• No to the idolatry of money!

55 “The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money...”

• No to a financial system that rules rather than serves!
  57 “Behind this attitude lurks a rejection of ethics and a rejection of God. Ethics has come to be viewed with a certain scornful derision.” 

There follows then a brief reflection on ethics concluding that we should ‘do economics as if people mattered’.

• No to inequality which spawns violence!
  
  

No to selfishness and spiritual sloth!
82 “The problem is not always an excess of activity, but rather activity undertaken badly, without adequate motivation, without a spirituality which would permeate it and make it pleasurable. As a result, work becomes more tiring than necessary, even leading at times to illness. Far from a content and happy tiredness, this is a tense, burdensome, dissatisfying and, in the end, unbearable fatigue. This pastoral acedia can be caused by a number of things. Some fall into it because they throw themselves into unrealistic projects and are not satisfied simply to do what they reasonably can. Others, because they lack the patience to allow processes to mature; they want everything to fall from heaven. Others, because they are attached to a few projects or vain dreams of success. Others, because they have lost real contact with people and so depersonalize their work that they are more concerned with the road map than with the journey itself. Others fall into acedia because they are unable to wait; they want to dominate the rhythm of life. Today’s obsession with immediate results makes it hard for pastoral workers to tolerate anything that smacks of disagreement, possible failure, criticism, the cross.”

 

• No to sterile pessimism!
  84 “(Quoting John XXIII at the Opening of Vatican II) At times we have to listen, much to our regret, to the voices of people who… can see nothing but prevarication and ruin. We feel that we must disagree with those prophets of doom who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world were at hand.” 
  
  
• No to spiritual worldliness!
  95 “In some people we see an ostentatious preoccupation for the liturgy, for doctrine and for the Church’s prestige, but without any concern that the Gospel have a real impact on God’s faithful people and the concrete needs of the present time…. Evangelical fervour is replaced by the empty pleasure of complacency and self-indulgence.”
  
  

96 “This way of thinking also feeds the vainglory of those who are content to have a modicum of power and would rather be the general of a defeated army than a mere private in a unit which continues to fight.”

No to warring among ourselves!
100 “It always pains me greatly to discover how some Christian communities, and even consecrated persons tolerate different forms of enmity, division, calumny, defamation, vendetta, jealousy and the desire to impose certain ideas at all costs…Whom are we going to evangelize if this is the way we act?”

 

But this section of EG concludes on an upbeat note:

 

109 “Challenges exist to be overcome! Let us be realists, but without losing our joy, our boldness and our hope-filled commitment. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary vigour!”

 

Imperatives for the Homily

As the Word of God in Scripture is at the very core of EG, twenty pages are devoted to a reflection on the crucial importance of the homily within the Eucharistic celebration. There are extensive and detailed guidelines for preaching it properly and well - as a critical element within the enterprise of evangelisation. He covers the preparation of the homily, reverence for the Word of God itself, the internal disposition and the external practice of the preacher, the right and wrong content and the delivery of the homily. This section of the document on preaching the Word of God in the homily de facto constitutes a mini catechetical seminar – an encyclical within an encyclical!  Fundamentally he is asking preachers to inhabit that Word of God and to allow themselves to be inhabited by that Word of God as they approach the task of ‘setting hearts on fire with love’ in the homily.

 

174 “Not only the homily has to be nourished by the word of God. All evangelization is based on that word, listened to, meditated upon, lived, celebrated and witnessed to. The sacred Scriptures are the very source of evangelization.” 

 

145 “Preparation for preaching is so important a task that a prolonged time of study, prayer, reflection and pastoral creativity should be devoted to it….Some pastors argue that such preparation is not possible given the vast number of tasks which they must perform; nonetheless, I presume to ask that each week a sufficient portion of personal and community time be dedicated to this task, even if less time has to be given to other important activities….A preacher who does not prepare is not “spiritual”; he is dishonest and irresponsible with the gifts he has received.”

 

157 “A good homily, an old teacher once told me, should have ‘an idea, a sentiment, and an image’.”

 

The Poor in Society

 

The centrality of the poor in the evangelisation project of EG cannot be in doubt. The option for the poor is a thread that runs throughout the text. But it is more than that; there are many echoes of the Jesuit General Congregation 34.  Basically he bashes on the head those who would say that we can witness to faith without seeking to promote social justice. And he insists the Church will not be confined to the sacristy.

 

183 Consequently, no one can demand that religion should be relegated to the inner sanctum of personal life ….the Church cannot and must not remain on the side-lines in the fight for justice”

 

188 “….it means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor, as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter. The word solidarity….refers to something more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mind-set which thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few.”

 

He pleads that we hear the cry of the poor.

 

187 “This demands that we be docile and attentive to the cry of the poor and to come to their aid.”

 

194 “This message is so clear and direct, so simple and eloquent, that no ecclesial interpretation has the right to relativize it….Why complicate something so simple? … This is especially the case with those biblical exhortations which summon us so forcefully to brotherly love, to humble and generous service, to justice and mercy towards the poor. Jesus taught us this way of looking at others by his words and his actions. So why cloud something so clear?” 

 

197 “The entire history of our redemption is marked by the presence of the poor. “

 

198 “That is why I want a poor Church for the poor….. to put them at the centre of the Church’s pilgrim way. We are called to find Christ in them, and to lend our voice to their causes.”

 

This last phrase constitutes a most welcome explicit endorsement of action for justice through advocacy and campaigning from the mouth of Pope Francis.

Yet:-

 

200 “…I want to say, with regret, that the worst discrimination which the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual care.” 

 

EG is telling us quite bluntly that the option for the poor is no longer a matter for esoteric deconstruction. It’s simple and it’s an imperative. The option for the poor means that the poor come first – first in our priorities, first in our pastoral plans, first in the use of our time, first in the call on our financial and human resources. It will be hard to swallow for the rich Church in the rich world!

 

Peace and Dialogue

Four great precepts are set out here as a contribution to the path to peace. Each of them is a miniature reflection which I would recommend to you as the basis of a lovely meditation.

• Time is greater than space
• Unity prevails over conflict
• Realities are more important than ideas
• The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

 

Spirit-filled Evangelisers

This is the brief wrap-up chapter of EG concluding with the prayer, Mary as Star of Evangelisation.

 

262 “Spirit-filled evangelizers are evangelizers who pray and work. Mystical notions without a solid social and missionary outreach are of no help to evangelization, nor are dissertations or social or pastoral practices which lack a spirituality which can change hearts.”

 

268 “Mission is at once a passion for Jesus and a passion for his people.”

 

273 “My mission of being in the heart of the people is not just a part of my life or a badge I can take off; it’s not an ‘extra’ or just another moment in life.” 

 

And then a paragraph I like very much with the allusion to Moses.

 

277 “We all know from experience that sometimes a task does not bring the satisfaction we seek, results are few and changes are slow, and we are tempted to grow weary. Yet lowering our arms momentarily out of weariness is not the same as lowering them for good, overcome by chronic discontent and by a listlessness that parches the soul.“

 

Mary Star of the New Evangelisation

 

288 “There is a Marian ‘style’ to the Church’s work of evangelization. Whenever we look to Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. In her we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong who need not treat others poorly in order to feel important themselves. Contemplating Mary, we realize that she who praised God for “bringing down the mighty from their thrones” and “sending the rich away empty” is also the one who brings a homely warmth to our pursuit of justice.”…….

 

In Summary

To encapsulate this beautiful letter in a single simple idea is no easy matter. Essentially EG invites us time and again to inhabit the Word of God through meditation, Ignatian imagination, Lectio Divina or whatever method suits us best. Then, allow that Word of God to inhabit us, to get under our skin. At the same time the fervent appeal is to inhabit the world of the poor (don’t keep it at arm’s length) and thereby allow ourselves to be inhabited by that world of the poor, let it permeate the pores of our skin.

 

So, the call is to inhabit and be inhabited by the Word of God and, simultaneously, to inhabit and be inhabited by the World of the Poor. This would not only signal an authentic missionary disciple but also make manifest a credible witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ for these times.

 

Let me quote and underline the plea of Fr James Martin SJ to his fellow Jesuits:

 

“Please, please, dear Jesuit brothers, read the entire document.  Take your time.  Be generous with it.  Let it excite you. Pray with it. And be open to his call to embark on a new chapter of evangelisation marked by this joy”.

 

288 “And so with Mary we advance confidently towards the fulfilment of this promise, and to her we pray:

 

Mary, Virgin and Mother,
you who, moved by the Holy Spirit,
welcomed the word of life
in the depths of your humble faith:
as you gave yourself completely to the Eternal One,
help us to say our own “yes”
to the urgent call, as pressing as ever,
to proclaim the good news of Jesus.

 

Filled with Christ’s presence, 
you brought joy to John the Baptist,
making him exult in the womb of his mother.
Brimming over with joy,
you sang of the great things done by God.
Standing at the foot of the cross
with unyielding faith,
you received the joyful comfort of the resurrection, 
and joined the disciples in awaiting the Spirit
so that the evangelizing Church might be born.

 

Obtain for us now a new ardour born of the resurrection,
that we may bring to all the Gospel of life
which triumphs over death.
Give us a holy courage to seek new paths,
that the gift of unfading beauty
may reach every man and woman.

 

Virgin of listening and contemplation,
Mother of love, Bride of the eternal wedding feast,
pray for the Church, whose pure icon you are, 
that she may never be closed in on herself 
or lose her passion for establishing God’s kingdom.

 

Star of the new evangelization, 
help us to bear radiant witness to communion,
service, ardent and generous faith,
justice and love of the poor,
that the joy of the Gospel
may reach to the ends of the earth,
illuminating even the fringes of our world.

Mother of the living Gospel,
wellspring of happiness for God’s little ones, 
pray for us.    

 

Amen. Alleluia!”

---