A SINGLE BUT COMPLEX REALITY

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A SINGLE BUT COMPLEX REALITY

• THE WHAT OF MISSION

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SIX COMPONENTS OF MISSION

• Witness and proclamation
• Liturgy, prayer, and contemplation
• Justice, peace and the integrity of creation
• Interreligious and secular dialogue
• Inculturation
• Reconciliation

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WITNESS AND PROCLMATION

• Most witnessing is done by ordinary baptized
  Christians in their daily life at home, in their
  neighborhood, at work, and in social situations.
• Witness happens on the communal level as a
  Christian community, a parish, and a diocese.
• Witness moves beyond the local to the level of
  the universal and institutional church.
• There is a common witness to Jesus by Christian
  churches and denominations.
• To accompany witness, John Paul II spoke of
  proclamation, the explicit proclamation of Jesus
  Christ as Lord and Savior. This is the permanent
  priority of mission.
• Proclamation needs to be an invitation that
  respects the free choice of the listeners. The
  Church proposes, she imposes nothing.
• It is the word of God (not that of the Christian
  or missionary) that has the power and grace to
  call people to conversion and a new life.

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LITURGY, PRAYER, AND CONTEMPLATION

• As important and central to Christian life as
  liturgy is, it cant be an end in itself.
• We are the body of Christ when we go out of
  Church.
• Mission is not just from inside to outside,
  but also the reverse. Bringing the concerns of
  the neighborhood and world into the liturgy
  prevents the community from focusing too much on
  itself, and opens members to being attentive,
  nourished and challenged by Gods movement in the
  wider world.
• In 1927, Pope Pius XI proclaimed Therese of
  Lisieux and Francis Xavier the patrons of
  mission. Christian living and mission consist of
  both activity and prayer.
• Prayer and contemplation can draw us into seeing
  and encountering the world and others more and
  more from Gods viewpoint. They help us align
  our lives with Gods mission of love, salvation,
  and justice.

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PURSUIT OF JUSTICE, PEACE, AND THE INTEGRITY OF
CREATION

• The mission of God calls the church to pursue
  work for a just and peaceful world and to care
  for Gods gift of creation.
• Leo XIII in his encyclical The Condition of
  Labor (1891) maintained that the church is called
  not only to care for those in need, but to
  address the unjust social and economic structures
  and systems.
• The US bishops statement Economic Justice for
  All (1986) also illustrates this component of
  mission.
• Peace is not just the absence of violence. It
  requires ongoing positive and active choices.
• Concern for justice and peace within the human
  family extends to proper care for the rest of
  Gods creation.

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INTERRELIGIOUS AND SECULAR DIALOGUE

• Dialogue is based on the belief that Gods grace
  and love is present in all people.
• Christians can learn something about God from
  others. On the one hand we approach others with
  respect at the same time, we remain true to our
  own Christian faith.
• There are four types of dialogue dialogue of
  life dialogue of action dialogue of religious
  experience dialogue of theological exchange
• Dialogue requires humility and openness as well
  as authenticity and integrity.

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INCULTURATION

• In encountering other peoples, the church must
  implant itself in the same way that Christ by his
  incarnation committed himself to the particular
  social and cultural circumstances.
• The word inculturation was introduced to capture
  the dynamic interaction between the gospel and
  church tradition, on the one hand, and the
  changing social and cultural context, on the
  other.
• There is no single Christian culture.
• The seeds of Gods word are to be acknowledged,
  nurtured, and expressed in our own words.

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RECONCILIATION

• Reconciliation occurs on four different levels
  personal level, cultural level, political level,
  within the church.
• It is God alone who can bring about
  reconciliation in peoples hearts.
• Christians are to be bridge-builders and
  mediators in the process.

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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

• What idea in this chapter struck you as the most
  interesting?
• Which of the six aspects of mission applies best
  to your situation?