Missionary Disciples 1.1

EXPLORATIONS
IN FAITH
AND SPIRITUALITY
2020-2021

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Focus: Becoming Missionary Disciples

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Goal:  Acquire new skills that will enable us to “become part of that great whisper that wants to keep echoing in the different corners of our lives: Rejoice, the Lord is with you!"  

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We dedicate this year’s Explorations in Faith and Spirituality to (1) exploring today's world and Church situation in the light of recent Church documents and (2) discovering what, if anything, we can learn about this "great whisper. . ." and in response become better evangelizers, i.e., make our inner Gospel joy more visible to others, especially through Spirit-directed encounters.

Adult Faith Offerings
2020-2021

Chapter 1 WHAT IS THE CHURCH IN 2020

Prayer.  Lord Jesus Christ, you have given your Church the mission to proclaim the gospel to all nations. May our efforts to fulfill this mission be led by the Holy Spirit so that we might be a leaven of New Life, salt of the earth, a light for the world, worthy missionaries and faithful to you. Make us living witnesses to the faith.  Inspire us to speak the truth with love. Permit us to be united but not closed, humble but not fearful, simple but not naïve, thoughtful but not overbearing, contemporary but not superficial, respectful of others but boldly Your disciples. May we bring into the world the hope of God.  We ask this through Christ the Lord who rose from the dead and lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.  Fr. Robert Barron

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HOW CENTRAL IS THE CHURCH IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE?

Just as central as the Yankees Team is to Aaron Judge’s life?

If you don’t feel that way, join our Exploration which begins below:

Chapter 1 WHAT IS THE CHURCH IN 2020

1.1  According to Pope Francis

Discovering the book Living As Missionary Disciples.  In order to keep our website visitors and weekly parish newsletter readers up to date on what is going on in the Church today, I frequently search the web for the latest Catholic news and events, and one of the places I visit on a regular basis is the website of the U.S. Bishops Conference (usccb.org).  The conference produces and publishes books and ads for these books pop up on their website. One that I saw quite regularly was for the 2017 book Living as Missionary Disciples by the Conference's Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis.  So I bought the book and subsequently searched the web and found that in 2020 the USCCB created some videos that further explain the book’s material.  The authors, (all bishops) keep referring to the subject matter as evangelization and they focus on convincing us that we should be evangelizers and missionary disciples.

My initial reaction to this is "Who wants to read about that?  The people of today have enough to do and most are not interested in that at all!"

But when I peeled away their lingo and listened to their message, I saw that what the authors were really suggesting is not a way of life that add another activity to our day but rather they ask us to be mindful at a deeper, more Spirit-filled level as we walk with Christ through the rotines of our day.

The book, Living As Missionary Disciples, begins with this quotation from a 2013 Exhortation by Pope Francis:  “Mere administration” can no longer be enough. Throughout the world, let us be “permanently in a state of mission.” (Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel, paragraph 25)  Introduction, Living as Missionary Disciples: A Resource for Evangelization. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

As I thought about the Church which does have an administrative structure but also a communal structure (We are the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ!), what came to mind is a professional baseball team which likewise has a dual structure:  adminsitration and team. It seems to me that those ballplayers are really engaged in their roles; every one of them is "permanently in a state of mission."  (I will say more about this later, but let me say for now that I think many of us see the Church and our position in the Church as us being the Church's fans. And I think that God sees us, not the priests, as the Church's players!  The priests are supposed to be our coaches.  The Pope and the bishops are like the head office. We are the ones learning the game, getting better and better at participating in it and having a joyful time while doing this - every day in every way! The ball field is the world. The game - what do you think it is?  What do you think God hopes you will do with your life?  Let's explore that.)

Discuss:  Based upon what you know about Pope Francis, what do you think he means by “mere administration” is not enough for being the Church today.  And what does the Pope mean when he says that we (who?) need to be “permanently in a state of mission”?  What is the difference between the players and the fans?  Who, if any Church members do you think are the administration, the players and/or the fans of the Church? 

These are strange concepts.  Let’s go to Pope Francis’ 2013 document and see in what context he placed them.  But before we do that, let me say something about Pope Francis' saying that we need to be "permanently in a state of mission" because, contrary to what you may think this means, being "permanently in a  state of mission" is not about adding something extra to your daily routine.

Being "permanently in a state of mission"  is about believing that who you are and what you bring to your everyday routine and to the people you encounter there is truly valuable and meaningful to you and to them. Being "permanently in a state of mission"  happens when, in your heart, you are conscious of your mission.

And what is your mission?  The Baltimore Catechism and Vatican II stated it, as does the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) §1691-1692:  You share in God's nature.  You are partakers of God's divine nature. The CCC's exact words are:

"Coming to see in the faith your dignity as Christians , you are called to lead henceforth a life "worthy of the gospel of Christ."4 You are made capable of doing so by the grace of Christ and the gifts of his Spirit, which you received through the sacraments and through prayer."    Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), §1692 (This CCC statement §1692 is printed in Concordance view where the key word links take one to a list of all of the occurrences of the word in the CCC.)

This is not referring to something that will happen when you die.  It is happening right now - in the here and now of this very moment and in the here and now of every moment of your every day - and very definitely not supposed to be something that you think is operative just when you are in church or in formal prayer.  And, definitely, it is happening in unison with the rest of your team.  And who is on your team?  God, those living now (all of us), those who came before us and those who are yet to come - all of us creating God's Kingdom here on earth, in our homes, our neighborhoods, our busineses, our world.

Find Us Faithful

Gaither Vocal Band, Steve Green  (Click these links for more song-prayers.)

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road,
And those who've gone before us
Line the way.
Cheering on the faithful,
Encouraging the weary,
Their lives a stirring testament
To god's sustaining grace.

Surrounded by so great
A cloud of witnesses,
Let us run the race
Not only for the prize,
But as those who've gone before us.
Let us leave to those behind us,
The heritage of faithfulness
Passed on thru godly lives.

O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion
Light their way.
May the footprints that we leave,
Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live
Inspire them to obey.
O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful.

After all our hopes and dreams
Have come and gone,
And our children sift thru all
We've left behind,
May the clues that they discover,
And the mem'ries they uncover,
Become the light that leads them,
To the road we each must find.

O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion
Light their way.
May the footprints that we leave,
Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live
Inspire them to obey.

O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion
Light their way.
May the footprints that we leave,
Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live
Inspire them to obey.

O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful.

O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful.

Songwriters: Jon Mohr

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The Whole of Paragraph 25 of Pope Francis’ 2013 Exhortation the Joy of the Gospel

Above we looked at this segment of Paragraph 25 of Pope Francis' The Joy of the Gospel.

“Mere administration” can no longer be enough. Throughout the world, let us be “permanently in a state of mission.” (Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel, paragraph 25)
Introduction, Living as Missionary Disciples: A Resource for Evangelization. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

  1. 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

21 Fifth general conference of the latin american and caribbean bishops, Aparecida Document, 29 June 2007, 201.

22 Ibid., 551.

Discuss:  This paragraph is a bit dense.  Take a few minutes to re-read and think about what it says.  What is the message(s)?  What do you think of it?  What is the Pope suggesting?

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Before tackling the Pope’s challenge (which seems to me to be both a personal challenge to each Catholic and a structural, organizational challenge to the Church of today), let’s consider (1) organizations, in general, and (2) the members of organizations.

1.2  Some Background on Organizations in General

Questions:  (Just to raise our awareness; very little discussion, if any.)

What is an organization?  They have been around since near the beginning of time.  What are they? Give some examples of organizations. Who creates them and why are they created?  Why do we belong to an organization?  Do we have a choice to belong or not? Do all organizations have a common structure?  Who sets an organization's structure and why does an organization have a structure?  Are there choices between different kinds of structures?  Do we know the structure of the Church?

Definition of an orgaization.:Organization - an organized body of people with a particular purpose, especially a business, society, association, etc.

One probably can say that the first organizations (“organized bodies of people with a particular purpose”) probably were families or ____?  The Bible begins with a story of a first family, that of Adam and Eve who, as the Bible story goes, were endowed with the power to “multiply and fill the earth.”  So, organizing and organizations have been around for a long time.

Where is God and religion in all of this?

1.3  How Different Are Organizations Today From What They Were Way Back Then?

Humanity – In the Beginning and Now

We, who have been exploring the Bible, especially, the Old Testament, have said many times that humanity hasn’t changed much over the years.  Sure, we’ve created things, organizations among them; we’ve developed things, newer tools, devices, buildings, toys, vehicles, etc., but all of these have come to be patterned after or organized according to pretty much the same organizing principles that were in the minds of the people of ancient eras.  What are these principles? Where did they come from and why do we use them? {Airplanes, mirrors, computers:  what might have been the archetype (original pattern) for these?}

DISCUSS:  What might these ancient peoples, for instance, Genesis’ first couple, Adam and Eve, have had to organize? (Consider an ordinary day, week, month or year in the life of these first human persons.  What would be some of the things that the people living then would have had to “organize” and “manage”?  The Bible mentions Cain, Abel and Seth but let’s assume that back then the average family had five children and assume that the early generations expanded from Adam and Eve’s family to 5 families after 20 years, the 25, 125, 625 and  3125 after 40, 60, 80 and 100 years.  Name one or two needs or dilemmas that might have occurred and how they might have addressed them. 

Consider their family life, their needs. What would be components and rules that they would “impose”?  What would be the purpose of these? How and why would those early communities dream up these or similar rules?  What is innate to man that leads them to do this?

1.4 THE NEED FOR ORGANIZATION AND RULES

Family Life Needs:  They needed a place to live, a way of life {meals, routine, food, work, shelter, protection, etc.}, so they somehow figured out what had to be done and how to do it. Neighbor Relation Needs:  They and their “neighbors” would have come up with some rules and organization for individual families, for tribes, neighbor to neighbor relationships, and so on.

AS TIME WENT ON:  From family to, perhaps, tribes and then, local societies may have evolved into local areas with a common “governing” structure, and maybe groups or co-ops grouped around common visions (including belief groups and God worshippers).  Then, perhaps came large farms and, later, factories and companies, corporations, nations and international organizations.  All of these over the course of millennia have been “dreamed” into existence by someone with a human mind.

How can this be?  Why is this so?  Why do our brains seem to go in this direction? Is it meant to reveal something to us? Is it to focus us on something? . . . on some one?  . . . to tell us something about ourselves, each other and God?

Pray Psalm 139  

II

13 You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works!
My very self you know.
15 My bones are not hidden from you,
When I was being made in secret,
fashioned in the depths of the earth.

Compare MLB Team and Players to Church and Parishioners

What Can the Church Learn from a MLB Team's Relationship to its Player?

MLB Team The Church
What are the characteristics of a truly engaged player? What are the characteristics of a truly engaged player? . . .a non-engaged player?
What does a top player do for himself and for the team? What does a top player do for himself and for the team?
What does a good player gain/lose for his efforts? What does a good (or not so good) player gain/lose for his efforts?
How does a good player impact the rest of the team and others in the organization? How does a not-so-good player impact the rest of the team and others in the organization?
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