+ MISSIONARY  TRANSFORMATION  OF CHURCH’S  LIFE  AND    PASTORAL  LIFE

AN UN-PRECEDENTED AND REVOLUTIONARY DOCUMENT. This is Evangelii Gaudium (The joy of the Gospel), the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, issued during the first year of his papacy (Nov. 2013). It is about the proclamation of the gospel (evangelisation) in today’s world. There are many documents produced by the church and its pastors. This is surely one of the most outstanding, relevant and urgent on this topic, direct and touching in its style, deeply human in its content, appealing and attractive in its approach.

      It stirs up enthusiasm for a new chapter of evangelisation. It tells us simply and clearly the basic truth and the whole truth about this basic task of the church and of each single member concerning the beauty and the joy of evangelisation.The title of ch.1 reads:THE CHURCH’S MISSIONARY TRANSFORMATION; it tells us that here we can expect something new still unsaid, surprising and revolutionary. But the opening statement is clear and reassuring as it is familiar ground for all believers: “Evangelisation takes place in obedience to the mandate of Jesus: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them...” (n.19).

1. IT TIES THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL TO JOY.The opening statement says it all: “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus”. The joy of the gospel is a missionary joy. Joy has accompanied the disciples over the face of the earth and has brought about the most surprising and unexpected transformations. It is vitally important for the church today TO GO FORTH and preach the gospel to all. “The joy of the gospel is for all people: no one can be excluded (n.3)

2. IT DEEPLY TOUCHES EVERY SINGLE BAPTISED PERSON IN THE CHURCH: from the pope himself to bishops, priests, religious and laity.

If we look at history, starting from the times of the apostles, we see that he apostles themselves and their close collaborators were the first evangelisers. All and sundry, priests and lay people, married couples and unmarried people were invited or inspired to preach the gospel. As time passed, we see that bishops and priests, religious leaders, devoted themselves to spreading the faith. Later, Christian kings and emperors felt it as their responsibility to bring the faith to pagan areas and countries.

Then many religious orders were founded. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they were interiorly pushed to the remotest countries of the world to bring the good news and the joy of the gospel to any person of good will.

But we wonder: Who is, in theory and according to logic, primarily responsible for the work of evangelisation? Surely the bishops, the successors of the apostles. But even as late as the time of Vatican Two (the  1960’s), not many of them were truly conscious of this basic duty of theirs. Most of them were content to take care of their diocese only. They had to be told explicitly by the Council through a very important document, Ad Gentes, a history making one.

Now Pope Francis affirms and insists that not only bishops and priests (and some voluntary lay people), but “ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD HAVE BECOME MISSIONARY DISCIPLES, IN VIRTUE OF THEIR BAPTISM. All the baptised, whatever their position in the church or their level of instruction in the faith, are AGENTS OF EVANGELISATION” (n.120)

3. Such commitment “DEMANDS A PASTORAL AND MISSIONARY CONVERSION OF INDIVIDUALS AND STRUCTURES, that cannot leave things as they presently are. (n.25).” Mere administration can no longer be enough. Throughout the world let us be permanently in a state of mission” (Aparecida 2007). There is no beating about the bush here! CHANGE is called for and stressed: a real, serious, deep change indicated with the word CONVERSION. We are familiar with “conversion”, we know it means a u-turn in the direction of one’s life.

Already Paul VI in his own time pointed to the need of self examination on the part of the church (cf. Ecclesiam suam, 1964) in the struggle for self-renewal to correct human flaws. Every renewal in the church consists in an increase of fidelity to her own calling (Vatican Two: Unitatis redintegratio). But now Pope Francis, in an impressive text, by using again those all encompassing and radical words, transformation and conversion, leaves no doubt about the seriousness and definitiveness of what is required. He says: “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 channelled for the evangelisation of today’s world, rather than for her self-preservation. The renewal of structures, demanded by pastoral conversion, can only be understood in this light: as part of an effort to make them more mission-oriented” (n.27)

4. Pope Francis makes it a duty for each particular church to UNDERTAKE A PROCESS OF DISCERNMENT, PURIFICATION AND REFORM, under the leadership of its bishop. It is ok to call for  missionary conversion, but all must become aware at personal and community level of what this implies: a serious and long process of reflection, searching, community self-examination, practical initiatives to eliminate negligence, superficiality and mediocrity.

To get a clearer idea of what the process of purification and reform implies, we can see practically  how Pope Francis looks at the PARISH, a community of communities, “not an outdated institution”; how he unveils and emphasises all the richness and potentialities of the basic standard particular church; and again, how the parish can train its members to become evangelisers and make it a centre of constant missionary outreach: just read n.28 of the document in question.

To conclude, the Pope says: “I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, styles and methods of evangelisation in their respective communities...under the leadership of the bishops, in a wise and realistic pastoral discernment”.(n.33).

5. Pope Francis PUTS US ON GUARD AGAINST THE DANGER OF ECCLESIAL INTROVERSION (n.27)

Introversion means a loss of perspective, a narrowing of horizons, turning away the eyes from what is our primary goal and direction and fixing them on what is out of place, selfish and short-sighted. What comes to my mind in this regard is what has become by now an ingrained habit, i.e. the way of celebrating the Sunday Mass in several communities of our neighbouring diocese Freetown. The danger is that this particular “way” may extend and spread to other dioceses.

Every parish and community in Freetown has 5/6 church organisations. Each one of them makes it a point to celebrate an “Annual Thanksgiving”. This is prepared in good time, in all detail, with great care: invitations letters are printed and sent around to all other organisations, within and without the parish. A liturgical programme is prepared (unchecked and uncensored by  the priest); a guest preacher and presider of the Mass is invited... The celebration is solemn and may be full of  unliturgical rituals, speeches in abundance... Then after the religious celebration, the proper luscious non-religious celebration follows...Of course there is a second special “thanksgiving“ collection for the occasion.

In these communities every organisation claims the right to have their ANNUAL thanksgiving, including the altar servers and the ‘Baby Jesus’ Group (where there is one, the toddlers!). Almost every Sunday there are several members in every community who have to attend Annual Thanksgivings in other communities, including non-catholic churches.

I wonder: what remains of the proper, legitimate, ordinary Sunday Eucharist when Thanksgivings (so many and so frequent!) are celebrated?

It serves only as a convenient background and a pretext to be exploited for one’s profane, non-religious, self referential purposes. This is an example of ecclesial introversion. What a disaster! What a religious devastation! Pope Francis would probably call it a circus or ‘a samba school’.

6. In the Document there is a clear, UN-MISTAKABLE EMPHASIS that every member of the church, every baptised person, every disciple of the Lord IS A MISSIONARY DISCIPLE. All the baptised, whatever their position in church or their level of instruction in the faith (or their age, we can safely add) are AGENTS OF  EVANGELISATION (N.120). We no longer say that we are “disciples” and “missionaries”, but rather that we are always “missionary disciples”. If we are not convinced, let us look at those first disciples – the Pope says – who after encountering the gaze of Jesus, went forth to proclaim him joyfully: ‘We have found the Messiah’ (John 1,41); the Samaritan woman became a missionary immediately after speaking with him (John 4,39); so too St Paul, after his encounter with him, immediately proclaimed Jesus (Acts 9,20). So, what should every new disciple, every new christian be waiting for? (n.120)

7. Now we wonder: What is the PROPELLING FORCE urging every baptised  person to be an active, convinced and committed  missionary? Here is the answer from the lips of the Pope himself. “Every Christian is A MISSIONARY TO THE EXTENT that he/she has ENCOUNTERED THE LOVE OF GOD IN JESUS CHRIST “(N.120). This means that your faith and love cannot just be wishful thinking, but something that makes your love burning and restless. Then we begin to realise

 that there is a kind of preaching that falls to each one of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the gospel to the people we meet. This is the informal preaching which takes place in the midst of a conversation, just as when a missionary visits a home. Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Christ to others. And this can happen in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey...

8. Now we wonder again: WHEN and HOW DOES THE ENCOUNTER with the love of God in Jesus TAKE PLACE? Pope Francis says it must take place UNFAILINGLY EACH DAY! (n. 3) Really we must take time to explore and understand the meaning of this precious word “encounter”. It seems to be almost a magic word, a word that makes all the difference in our life of christian disciples. This word is in the opening sentence of the document: “the joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who ENCOUNTER Jesus”. Then after a few lines we come to n.3, where Pope Francis says: “I invite all Christians now now, everywhere, to a renewed personal ENCOUNTER with Jesus Christ”. Then, shortly after, the Pope puts on the lips of the disciple the words: “Here I am once more to renew my COVENANT with you”. Encounter and covenant: two synonyms, they can be superimposed.

But how can we understand these things if we still accept in our lives too much of routine, lifeless repetitions, superficiality, distractions, casualness, lack of concentration...?

Pope Francis says: “Evangelisation with joy becomes beauty in the liturgy... The church evangelises and is herself evangelised through the beauty of the liturgy” (n.24) Is this truly what happens when we celebrate the Mass? There is no doubt that the most effective and most attractive way to evangelise is the appropriate, the correct way to celebrate the Eucharist.  The church says that there is an ars celebrandi (the art of proper celebration) and an actuosa participatio  (active, full, fruitful participation) for which the priest is totally responsible. Pope Benedict XVI clearly states the functions of the priest concerning the Mass: “He alone and no other, as the tradition of the church attests, presides over the entire eucharistic celebration from the initial greeting to the final blessing. In virtue of his reception of holy orders, he represents Jesus Christ, the head of the church, and in a specific way also the church herself” (Post-synodal exhortation on the Eucharist, Sacramentum caritatis, n.53). So, the daily Mass should be that privileged, special, time of encounter with the Lord (but not the only one).

CONCLUSION. From all that has been said above, there are some obvious conclusions that need to be drawn. Pope Francis makes it clear that liturgy is the heart of evangelisation, of the gospel joy and of a spiritual beauty. The priest is primarily and fully responsible for the liturgy: what a powerful instrument for effective evangelisation has been given to him! Vatican Two laid down in its own time that “it is absolutely necessary to give first place to the liturgical formation of the clergy” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14). Since by now our initial formation is over, it seems obvious that liturgy should be and remain number one in our ongoing formation, if we really are to effectively serve the cause of evangelisation and to bring about the transformation that Pope Francis is dreaming about.

                            MISSION   AND   SPIRITUAL   LIFE

         At the end of the document (Evangelii Gaudium), Pope Francis says  he does not intend to conclude with a synthesis of the christian or missionary spirituality, but simply to offer some thoughts about the spirit of the new evangelisation. Hence the title of the last chapter: Spirit-filled evangelisers. Jesus wants evangelisers who proclaim the good news not only with words, but above all by a life transfigured by God’s presence.

I will try to sum up such thoughts.

1. Spirit-filled evangelisers are evangelisers who pray and work. What is needed is the ability to cultivate an interior space which can give a christian meaning to commitment and activity. Without prolonged moments of adoration, of prayerful encounter with the Lord, our work easily becomes meaningless (n.262)

1. The primary reason for evangelising is the love of Jesus that we have received, the experience of salvation which urges us to greater love of him. We need to implore his grace daily, asking him to open our cold hearts. How good it is to stand before a crucifix, or on our knees before the blessed sacrament... What then happens is that “we speak of what we have seen and heard” (1John 1-3). The best incentive for sharing the gospel comes from contemplating it with love (n.264)

1. But this conviction has to be sustained by our constantly renewed experience of savouring Christ’s friendship and his message. It is impossible to persevere in a fervent evangelisation “unless we are convinced from personal experience that it is not the same thing to have known Jesus as not to have known him, to walk with him as to walk blindly, to hear his word as not to know it... A person who is not convinced, enthusiastic, certain and in love, will convince nobody.” (n.266)

1. The spiritual joy of being a people: “Once you were no people but now you are God’s people” (1Pet.2,10). To be evangelisers of souls, we need to develop a spiritual taste for being close to people’s lives.” Mission is at once passion for Jesus and passion for his people” (n.268). Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others, to enter into the reality of people’s lives and know the power of tenderness(n.2709). By so doing we will know the missionary joy of sharing life with God’s faithful people.

282. The missionary power of intercessory prayer. It is that form of prayer that stimulates us to take up the task if evangelisation and to seek the good of others. Take a look at St Paul’s prayer, it is full of people: “I constantly pray with you in every one of my prayers for all of you... because I have you in my heart” (Phil. 1,4-7) This attitude becomes a prayer of gratitude to God for others. At the same time it is the gratitude which flows from a heart attentive to others. When evangelisers rise from prayer, their hearts are more open: freed from self-absorption, desirous of doing good and sharing their lives with others. Intercession is like a “leaven” in the heart of the Trinity, it is a way of penetrating the Father’s heart (nn.282.283).