On the feast of the conversion of St Paul, we pray that our eyes and hearts be opened to the needs of the world around us, so we might become humble missionaries of God's love. And we ask St Paul to pray with us; that the Spirit continues to inspire all overseas missionaries. pic.twitter.com/mHl54qC7is— Missio (@MissioUK) January 25, 2018
The Acts of the Apostles details the Paul’s Conversion in his defense before the Jerusalem Jews.
* [22:1–21] Paul’s first defense speech is presented to the Jerusalem crowds. Luke here presents Paul as a devout Jew (Acts 22:3) and zealous persecutor of the Christian community (Acts 22:4–5), and then recounts the conversion of Paul for the second time in Acts (see note on Acts 9:1–19).In the Long Ending to the Gospel of Mark, the mission of proclamation and baptism is declared.
* [16:9–20] This passage, termed the Longer Ending to the Marcan gospel by comparison with a much briefer conclusion found in some less important manuscripts, has traditionally been accepted as a canonical part of the gospel and was defined as such by the Council of Trent. Early citations of it by the Fathers indicate that it was composed by the second century, although vocabulary and style indicate that it was written by someone other than Mark. It is a general resume of the material concerning the appearances of the risen Jesus, reflecting, in particular, traditions found in Lk 24 and Jn 20.Kyle Lierk is inspired by Pope Francis apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, to recall a colleague of his who likes to say, “God moments are meant to be shared not kept.”
Pope Francis tells our world the same. He implores us to evangelize with the joy we discover in our relationship with God. In Evangelii Gaudium, he writes, “We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being. Here we find the source and inspiration of all our efforts at evangelization. For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?”Kevin Cotter offers the quote below which he believes sums up the Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) (“EG”) document.
“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” (#27).Scott McKellar uses Pope Francis citation of Pope John XXIII to describe the dream of missionary renewal expressed in Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel).
Quoting the famous words of Blessed Pope John XXIII, he notes, “The deposit of the faith is one thing… the way it is expressed is another” (EG 41). He also points out that, “all religious teaching ultimately has to be reflected in the teacher’s way of life, which awakens the assent of the heart by its nearness, love and witness” (EG 42). Without abandoning the evangelical ideal, pastors and teachers need to accompany others with mercy and patience through the “eventual stages of personal growth as these progressively occur” (EG 44).Atila Sinke Guimarães finds confusion of language and the lack of consistency in the Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Bergoglio based on the same quotation about evangelization of today’s world.
“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.”Friar Jude Winkler provides background of the political situation surrounding Paul’s travel to Damascus and the connection of some events in the account of Acts to the environment in the First Century. The scribe who added the Longer ending of Mark included an amalgam of the Resurrection stories and Jesus directive about going out as missionaries.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, declares that Incarnation should be the primary and compelling message of Christianity.
The dualism of the spiritual and so-called secular is precisely what Jesus came to reveal as untrue and incomplete. Jesus came to model for us that these two seemingly different worlds are and always have been one...
Yet most Christians, even those who go to church each Sunday, remain limited to a largely inert materiality for all practical purposes. Such emptiness sends us on a predictable course of consumerism and addiction—because matter without spirit is eventually unsatisfying and disappointing.
Stephen Beale comments that one of the Eight Gems from Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium is that genuine religion is incarnate.
Genuine religion is incarnate. “Genuine forms of popular religiosity are incarnate, since they are born of the incarnation of Christian faith in popular culture. For this reason they entail a personal relationship, not with vague spiritual energies or powers, but with God, with Christ, with Mary, with the saints. These devotions are fleshy, they have a face. They are capable of fostering relationships and not just enabling escapism,” Francis writes. This fundamental characteristic of Catholic faith is a vital antidote to the two extremes so common in our culture: on the one hand, the materialist gospel of health and wealth, and, on the other, those forms of spirituality that seek total detachment from the body and deny the good of the created world.The texts today give a glimpse of the reality of the difficulty in writing about transformation as people respond to the call of God. We join Pope Francis in prayer 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.
References
(n.d.). Acts, chapter 22 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/acts/22:3
(n.d.). Mark, chapter 16 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/16
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). A Summary of Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel): Pope Francis .... Retrieved January 25, 2018, from https://focusoncampus.org/content/a-summary-of-evangelii-gaudium-joy-of-the-gospel-pope-francis-first-apostolic-exhortation-5e45c0fa-331b-48dd-a872-22a27bb48a51
(2013, December 2). Pope Francis: A Dream of Missionary Renewal (Evangelii Gaudium .... Retrieved January 25, 2018, from https://newhitherthitherandyon.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/pope-francis-a-dream-of-missionary-renewal-evangelii-gaudium-review-part-1/
(2014, February 28). The Destruction Intended by Evangelii Gaudium by Atila Sinke .... Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://www.traditioninaction.org/bev/164bev02_28_2014.htm
(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/
(2013, December 9). Eight Gems from Pope Francis' Evangelii Gaudium - Catholic Exchange. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from http://catholicexchange.com/evangelii-gaudium
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