Christians must not to be 'sourpusses' or like people coming back from a funeral
Pope Francis wants all of us to become heralds of the joy of the Gospel. In Evangelii Gaudium he cautions us not to be 'sourpusses' or like people coming back from a funeral. He insists: 'Let us not allow ourselves to be 'robbed of hope' (EG 83).
There is a definite temptation nowadays to rob the Church of hope. We often hear people speaking about the decline in Church practice, or the lack of vocations to the priesthood and religious life as signals that Europe has 'lost the faith'. It is true that many people in Europe have drifted away from regular Church practice: there is an increasing loss of the 'sense of the sacred', and more and more people seem to be growing used to living their lives with little or no reference to belief and trust in God.
Pope Francis tells us that it is now, more than ever, that the world needs to hear the song of the Lord, 'the joy of the Gospel'. He challenges us to get out there and to bring faith to life. A Church which does not come out of herself to evangelise, he said, becomes self-referential and then gets sick.
In Evangelii Gaudium Pope Francis asks us to put everything we do into a new key - a 'missionary key'.
He wrote:
'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' (EG 27).
And again...
'Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: 'We have always done it this way'. It invites everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelisation in their respective communities' (EG 33).
There is a definite temptation nowadays to rob the Church of hope. We often hear people speaking about the decline in Church practice, or the lack of vocations to the priesthood and religious life as signals that Europe has 'lost the faith'. It is true that many people in Europe have drifted away from regular Church practice: there is an increasing loss of the 'sense of the sacred', and more and more people seem to be growing used to living their lives with little or no reference to belief and trust in God.
Pope Francis tells us that it is now, more than ever, that the world needs to hear the song of the Lord, 'the joy of the Gospel'. He challenges us to get out there and to bring faith to life. A Church which does not come out of herself to evangelise, he said, becomes self-referential and then gets sick.
In Evangelii Gaudium Pope Francis asks us to put everything we do into a new key - a 'missionary key'.
He wrote:
'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' (EG 27).
And again...
'Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: 'We have always done it this way'. It invites everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelisation in their respective communities' (EG 33).
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