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and protect the good of others.”
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The community of faith, the parish, does
not remain focused on itself, but instead sends disciples out on mission.
4. Send
Evangelization leads disciples to accept God’s desire to send them
on mission.
St. John Paul II in
Redemptoris Missio
stated that the first form of evangeli-
zation is witness: “people today put more trust in witnesses than in teach-
ers, in experience than in teachers, in experience than in teaching, and in
life and action than in theories. The witness of a Christian life is the first
and irreplaceable form of mission: Christ, whose mission we continue, is
the ‘witness’
par excellence
(Rv 1:5; 3:14) and the model of all Christian
witness. The Holy Spirit accompanies the Church along her way and asso-
ciates her with the witness he gives to Christ (cf. Jn 15:26-27).”
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As they
get to know and love the Lord, disciples experience the need to share with
others their joy by proclaiming Jesus Christ, not just with words, but also
through service to those most in need. This is what it means to build the
Kingdom of God and to be a missionary disciple. “Mission is inseparable
from discipleship, and hence it must not be understood as a stage subse-
quent to formation, although it is carried out in different ways, depending
on one’s own vocation and on the moment in human and Christian matu-
ration at which the person stands.”
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Pope Francis asks us: “Where does Jesus send us? There are no bor-
ders, no limits: he sends us to everyone. The Gospel is for everyone, not
just for some. It is not only for those who seem closer to us, more recep-
tive, more welcoming. It is for everyone. Do not be afraid to go and to
bring Christ into every area of life, to the fringes of society, even to those
who seem farthest away, most indifferent. The Lord seeks all, he wants
everyone to feel the warmth of his mercy and his love.”
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We become missionary disciples when we take our encounter with
Jesus Christ out into the world. Pope Francis uses the term
missionary disci-
pleship
often and provides a clear vision of the term in
Evangelii Gaudium
.
He reminds us that all the baptized are called to be missionary disciples
and that effective evangelization does not always require formal education
or lengthy training.