Church Exists to Evangelize! Pope Calls every Catholic to Become a Missionary

Catholic Online ^ | 1/26/11 | Deacon Keith Fournier

[tcg]

...Pope Benedict reminds us all that the Church "exists to evangelize" with an urgency reminiscent of the Saint whose feast we celebrated the day this message was made public. He writes,"This task has lost none of its urgency.We cannot rest easy at the thought that, after two thousand, there are people who still do not know Christ, who have not yet heard His message of salvation."

Here he is speaking of the missionary mandate of the Church "ad gentes" , to the Nations. The Church has always taught that every single human being on the face of the earth has a right to hear the liberating Gospel message of Jesus Christ as fully revealed in the heart of His Catholic Church. However, in order to be able to engage this task, Catholic Christians need to be renewed in their own Baptismal faith through an encounter with the Risen Lord and solid catechesis in living as a Catholic Christian.

This is what is meant by the "New Evangelization". The Pope writes, " there are growing numbers of people who, though having received the Gospel announcement, have forgotten or abandoned it and no longer identify themselves in the Church; and many environments, even in traditionally Christian societies, are reluctant to open themselves to the word of faith."...

...This New Evangelization invites each of us to live our baptismal vocation, no matter what our state in life, completely given over to the work of the Lord. It is meant to bring about an authentic renewal of the Church so that she can undertake a new missionary outreach to the whole world...

[tcg]

Pope Benedict XVI does not want "Mission Sunday" 2011 to pass by as one more commemoration in our liturgical observance. Rather, he wants it to ignite a fervent missionary movement in the Catholic Church. He is calling the entire Catholic Church into a new missionary age. We are living in a global moment of need and Pope Benedict XVI is calling us all to become missionaries. Clearly, Pope Benedict XVI does not want "Mission Sunday" 2011 to pass by as one more commemoration in our liturgical observance. Rather, he wants it to ignite a fervent missionary movement in the Catholic Church. He is calling the entire Catholic Church into a new missionary age.

Let us here the call and respond.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thanks for this. It has been much of my conscience lately.

[Hodar]

I’m not Catholic, but I think this is a SUPER direction for the church to take.

When you teach anything, you learn the subject matter far better than you knew it going in. I taught Sunday School for several years, and learned far more than I taught.

[Salvation]

Preaching the Gospel, Catholics all, preaching the Gospel.

[Salvation]

It’s been heading this way for about six years. I think it’s coming to fruition.

Look out for the Catholics on the streetcorners......No, just kidding!

[Cronos]

True, this pope is leading the Church correctly!