THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL
The Joy of the
Gospel is a speech and discourse presented by Pope Francis that encourages and earnestly
advises us about the Gospels and how they affect our lives, and how
they do it joyfully.
The following is
a handout prepared for discussion regarding that apostolic exhortation . . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION EVANGELII
GAUDIUM
OF THE
HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
CONSECRATED
PERSONS,
AND THE
LAY FAITHFUL.
ON THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL IN
TODAY’S WORLD
I. A JOY EVER NEW, A JOY WHICH IS
SHARED [1-8]
3.
I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal
encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter
them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think
that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded
from the joy brought by the Lord”.[1] The Lord does not disappoint those who
take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that
he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to
Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a
thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my
covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into
your redeeming embrace”.
II. THE DELIGHTFUL
AND COMFORTING JOY OF EVANGELIZING [9-13]
9.
Goodness always tends to spread. Every authentic experience of truth and
goodness seeks by its very nature to grow within us, and any person who has
experienced a profound liberation becomes more sensitive to the needs of
others. As it expands, goodness takes root and develops. If we wish to lead a
dignified and fulfilling life, we have to reach out to others and seek their
good. In this sense, several sayings of Saint Paul will not surprise us: “The
love of Christ urges us on” (2 Cor 5:14); “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the
Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16).
10.
The Gospel offers us the chance to live life on a higher plane, but with no
less intensity: “Life grows by being given away, and it weakens in isolation
and comfort.
11.
A renewal of preaching can offer believers, as well as the lukewarm and the
non-practicing, new joy in the faith and fruitfulness in the work of
evangelization. The heart of its message will always be the same: the God who
revealed his immense love in the crucified and risen Christ. God constantly
renews his faithful ones, whatever their age: “They shall mount up with wings
like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint”
(Is 40:31). Christ is the “eternal Gospel” (Rev 14:6); he “is the same yesterday
and today and forever” (Heb 13:8), yet his riches and beauty are inexhaustible.
He is for ever young and a constant source of newness. The Church never fails
to be amazed at “the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God” (Rom
11:33). Saint John of the Cross says that “the thicket of God’s wisdom and
knowledge is so deep and so broad that the soul, however much it has come to
know of it, can always penetrate deeper within it”.[7] Or as Saint Irenaeus
writes: “By his coming, Christ brought with him all newness”.[8] With this
freshness he is always able to renew our lives and our communities, and even if
the Christian message has known periods of darkness and ecclesial weakness, it
will never grow old
III. THE NEW
EVANGELIZATION FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF THE FAITH [14-18]
14.
Attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit who helps us together to read
the signs of the times, the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops gathered from 7-28 October 2012 to discuss the theme: The New
Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith. The Synod reaffirmed that the new
evangelization is a summons addressed to all and that it is carried out in
three principal settings.[10]
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 community worship
and gather on the Lord’s day to be nourished by his word and by the bread of eternal
life”.[11] 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”,[12] 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 these are
quietly seeking God, led by a yearning to see his face, even in countries of
ancient Christian tradition. All of them have a right to receive the Gospel.
Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without excluding anyone.
Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they 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”.[13]
17.
Here I have chosen to present some guidelines which can encourage and guide the
whole Church in a new phase of evangelization, one marked by enthusiasm and
vitality. In this context, and on the basis of the teaching of the Dogmatic
Constitution Lumen Gentium, I have decided, among other themes, to discuss at
length the following questions:
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.
CHAPTER ONE
THE CHURCH’S MISSIONARY
TRANSFORMATION [19]
I.
A CHURCH WHICH GOES FORTH [20-24]
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, 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.
Taking
the first step, being involved and supportive, bearing fruit and rejoicing [24]
25.
I am aware that nowadays documents do not arouse the same interest as in the
past and that they are quickly forgotten. Nevertheless, I want to emphasize
that what I am trying to express here has a programmatic significance and
important consequences. I hope that all communities will devote the necessary
effort to advancing along the path of a pastoral and missionary conversion
which cannot leave things as they presently are. “Mere administration” can no
longer be enough.[21] Throughout the world, let us be “permanently in a state
of mission”.[22]
II. PASTORAL
ACTIVITY AND CONVERSION [25-33]
An
ecclesial renewal which cannot be deferred [27-33]
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
III. FROM THE HEART
OF THE GOSPEL [34-39]
We need to be realistic and not assume that our audience understands
the full background to what we are saying, or is capable of relating what we
say to the very heart of the Gospel which gives it meaning, beauty and
attractiveness.
IV. A MISSION
EMBODIED WITHIN HUMAN LIMITS [40-45]
45.
We see then that the task of evangelization operates within the limits of
language and of circumstances. It constantly seeks to communicate more
effectively the truth of the Gospel in a specific context, without renouncing
the truth, the goodness and the light which it can bring whenever perfection is
not possible. A missionary heart is aware of these limits and makes itself
“weak with the weak... everything for everyone” (1 Cor 9:22). It never closes
itself off, never retreats into its own security, never opts for rigidity and
defensiveness. It realizes that it has to grow in its own understanding of the
Gospel and in discerning the paths of the Spirit, and so it always does what
good it can, even if in the process, its shoes get soiled by the mud of the
street.
V. A MOTHER WITH AN
OPEN HEART [46-49]
46. A Church which “goes forth” is a Church whose doors are
open. Going out to others in order to reach the fringes of humanity does not
mean rushing out aimlessly into the world. Often it is better simply to slow
down, to put aside our eagerness in order to see and listen to others, to stop
rushing from one thing to another and to remain with someone who has faltered
along the way. At times we have to be like the father of the prodigal son, who
always keeps his door open so that when the son returns, he can readily pass
through it.
47.
The Church is called to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide
open. One concrete sign of such openness is that our church doors should always
be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God,
he or she will not find a closed door. There are other doors that should not be
closed either. Everyone can share in some way in the
life of the Church; everyone can be part of the community, 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, although it
is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a
powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.[51]
These convictions have pastoral consequences that we are called to consider
with prudence and boldness. 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.
AMID THE CRISIS OF COMMUNAL COMMITMENT
[50-51]
51.
It is not the task of the Pope to offer a detailed and complete analysis of
contemporary reality, but I do exhort all the communities to an “ever watchful
scrutiny of the signs of the times”.[54] This is in fact a grave
responsibility, since certain present realities, unless effectively dealt with,
are capable of setting off processes of dehumanization which would then be hard
to reverse. We need to distinguish clearly what might be a fruit of the kingdom
from what runs counter to God’s plan. This involves not only recognizing and
discerning spirits, but also – and this is decisive – choosing
movements of the spirit of good and rejecting those of the spirit of evil.
I. SOME CHALLENGES
OF TODAY’S WORLD [52-75]
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?
“No” to an economy of exclusion [53-54]
“No”
to the new idolatry of money [55-56]
“No”
to a financial system which rules rather than serves [57-58]
“No”
to the inequality which spawns violence [59-60]
Some
cultural challenges [61-67]
Challenges
to inculturating the faith [68-70]
Challenges
from urban cultures [71-75]
II. TEMPTATIONS
FACED BY PASTORAL WORKERS [76-109]
76.
I feel tremendous gratitude to all those who are committed to working in and
for the Church. Here I do not wish to discuss at length the activities of the
different pastoral workers, from bishops down to those who provide the most
humble and hidden services. Rather, I would like to reflect on the challenges
that all of them must face in the context of our current globalized culture.
But in justice, I must say first that the contribution of the Church in today’s
world is enormous.
The pain and the shame we feel at the sins of some members of the
Church, and at our own, must never make us forget how many Christians are
giving their lives in love.
“Yes”
to the challenge of a missionary spirituality [78-80]
“No”
to selfishness and spiritual sloth [81-83]
“No”
to a sterile pessimism [84-86]
“Yes”
to the new relationships brought by Christ [87-92]
“No”
to spiritual worldliness [93-97]
“No”
to warring among ourselves [98-101]
Other
ecclesial challenges [102-109]
THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL [110]
110.
After having considered some of the challenges of the present, I would now like
to speak of the task which bears upon us in every age and place, for “there can be no true evangelization without the explicit proclamation
of Jesus as Lord”, and without the primacy of the proclamation of Jesus Christ
in all evangelizing work”.[77]
Acknowledging the concerns of the Asian bishops, John Paul II told them that if
the Church “is to fulfill its providential destiny, evangelization
as the joyful, patient and progressive preaching of the saving death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ must be your absolute priority.”[78] These words
hold true for all of us.
I. THE ENTIRE PEOPLE OF GOD
PROCLAIMS THE GOSPEL
[111-134]
A
people for everyone [112-114]
112. The salvation which God
offers us is the work of his mercy. No human efforts, however good they may be,
can enable us to merit so great a gift. God, by his sheer grace, draws us to
himself and makes us one with him.
A
people of many faces [115-118]
We
are all missionary disciples [119-121]
Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged
in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love
does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love.
Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered
the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are “disciples” and
“missionaries”, but rather that we are always “missionary disciples”.
The
evangelizing power of popular piety [122-126]
[97]
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
Person to person [127-129]
127. Today, as the Church seeks to experience a profound missionary
renewal, there is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily
responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet,
whether they be our neighbors or complete strangers. This is the informal
preaching which takes place in the middle of a conversation, something along
the lines of what a missionary does when visiting a home. Being a disciple
means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others and this can
happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during
work, on a journey.
Culture,
thought and education [132-134]
II. THE HOMILY
[135-144]
The homily can actually be an intense and happy experience of the
Spirit, a consoling encounter with God’s word, a constant source of renewal and
growth.
The
liturgical context [137-138]
A
mother’s conversation [139-141]
Words
which set hearts on fire [142-144]
Reverence
for truth [146-148]
Personalizing
the word [149-151]
Spiritual
reading [152-153]
An
ear to the people [154-155]
Homiletic
resources [156-159]
IV. EVANGELIZATION
AND THE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE KERYGMA [160- 175]
160.
The Lord’s missionary mandate includes a call to growth in faith: “Teach them
to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:20). Hence it is clear that
that the first proclamation also calls for ongoing formation and maturation.
Evangelization aims at a process of growth which entails taking seriously each
person and God’s plan for his or her life. All of us
need to grow in Christ. Evangelization should stimulate a desire for this
growth, so that each of us can say wholeheartedly: “It is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
161.
It would not be right to see this call to growth exclusively or primarily in
terms of doctrinal formation. It has to do with “observing” all that the Lord
has shown us as the way of responding to his love. Along with the virtues, this
means above all the new commandment, the first and the
greatest of the commandments, and the one that best identifies us as Christ’s
disciples: “This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). Clearly,
whenever the New Testament authors want to present the heart of the Christian
moral message, they present the essential requirement of love for one’s neighbor:
“The one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the whole law… therefore love of neighbor
is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom 13:8, 10). These are the words of Saint
Paul, for whom the commandment of love not only sums up the law but constitutes
its very heart and purpose: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘you
shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal 5:14). To his communities Paul
presents the Christian life as a journey of growth in
love: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another
and for all” (1 Th 3:12). Saint James likewise exhorts Christians to fulfill
“the royal law according to the Scripture: You shall love your neighbor as
yourself” (2:8), in order not to fall short of any commandment.
“Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is
living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.” to
express God’s saving love which precedes any moral and religious obligation on
our part
Kerygmatic
and mystagogical catechesis [163-168]
Personal
accompaniment in processes of growth [169-173]
Centered
on the word of God [174-175]
All evangelization is based on that word, listened to, meditated
upon, lived, celebrated and witnessed to. God’s word, listened to and
celebrated, above all in the Eucharist, nourishes and inwardly strengthens
Christians, enabling them to offer an authentic witness to the Gospel in daily
life
To evangelize is to make the kingdom of God present in our world.
I. COMMUNAL AND SOCIETAL REPERCUSSIONS
OF THE KERYGMA [177-185]
178. To believe in a Father who loves all men and women with an
infinite love means realizing that “he thereby confers upon them an infinite
dignity”.[141] To believe that the Son of God assumed our human flesh means
that each human person has been taken up into the very heart of God. To believe
that Jesus shed his blood for us removes any doubt about the boundless love
which ennobles each human being. Our redemption has a social dimension because
“God, in Christ, redeems not only the individual person, but also the social
relations existing between men”.[142] To believe that the Holy Spirit is at
work in everyone means realizing that he seeks to penetrate every human
situation and all social bonds: “The Holy Spirit can be said to possess an
infinite creativity, proper to the divine mind, which knows how to loosen the
knots of human affairs, even the most complex and inscrutable”.[143]
Evangelization is meant to cooperate with this liberating work of the Spirit.
The very mystery of the Trinity reminds us that we have been created in the
image of that divine communion, and so we cannot achieve fulfilment or
salvation purely by our own efforts
The
Church’s teaching on social questions [182-185]
II. THE INCLUSION OF THE POOR IN
SOCIETY [186-216]
In
union with God, we hear a plea [187-192]
Fidelity
to the Gospel, lest we run in vain [193-196]
The
special place of the poor in God’s people [197-201]
The
economy and the distribution of income [202-208]
Concern
for the vulnerable [209-216]
III. THE COMMON
GOOD AND PEACE IN SOCIETY [217-237]
218.
Peace in society cannot be understood as pacification or the mere absence of
violence resulting from the domination of one part of society over others. Nor
does true peace act as a pretext for justifying a social structure which
silences or appeases the poor, so that the more affluent can placidly support
their lifestyle while others have to make do as they can. Demands involving the
distribution of wealth, concern for the poor and human rights cannot be
suppressed under the guise of creating a consensus on paper or a transient
peace for a contented minority. The dignity of the human person and the common
good rank higher than the comfort of those who refuse to renounce their
privileges. When these values are threatened, a prophetic voice must be raised.
Time
is greater than space [222-225]
Unity
prevails over conflict [226-230]
Realities
are more important than ideas [231-233]
231.
There also exists a constant tension between ideas and realities. Realities
simply are, whereas ideas are worked out. There has to be continuous dialogue
between the two, lest ideas become detached from realities. It is dangerous to
dwell in the realm of words alone, of images and rhetoric. So a third principle
comes into play: realities are greater than ideas. This calls for rejecting the
various means of masking reality: angelic forms of purity, dictatorships of
relativism, empty rhetoric, objectives more ideal than real, brands of a historical
fundamentalism, ethical systems bereft of kindness, intellectual discourse
bereft of wisdom.
The
whole is greater than the part [234-237]
IV. SOCIAL DIALOGUE
AS A CONTRIBUTION TO PEACE [238-258]
Dialogue
between faith, reason and science [242-243]
Ecumenical
dialogue [244-246]
Relations
with Judaism [247-249]
Interreligious
dialogue [250-254]
Social
dialogue in a context of religious freedom [255-258]
CHAPTER FIVE
SPIRIT-FILLED EVANGELIZERS [259-261]
259.
Spirit-filled evangelizers mean evangelizers who
fearlessly open to the working of the Holy Spirit
I. REASONS FOR A RENEWED MISSIONARY
IMPULSE [262-283]
262.
Spirit-filled evangelizers are evangelizers who pray
and work. a spirituality which can change hearts.
Personal
encounter with the saving love of Jesus [264-267]
The
spiritual savior of being a people [268-274]
The
mysterious working of the risen Christ and his Spirit [275-280]
The
missionary power of intercessory prayer [281-283]
II. MARY, MOTHER OF EVANGELIZATION
[284-288]
284.
With the Holy Spirit, Mary is always present in the midst of the people. She
joined the disciples in praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14)
and thus made possible the missionary outburst which took place at Pentecost.
She is the Mother of the Church which evangelizes, and without her we could
never truly understand the spirit of the new evangelization.
Jesus’
gift to his people [285-286]
Star
of the new evangelization [287-288]
With
Mary we advance confidently towards the fulfillment 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.
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!
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