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'. The renewal of structures demanded by pastoral conversion can only be understood in this light: as part of an effort to make them more mission-oriented, to make ordinary pastoral activity on every level more inclusive and (...) open, to inspire in pastoral workers a constant desire to go forth and in this way to elicit a positive response from all those whom Jesus summons to friendship with himself. As John Paul II once said to the Bishops of Oceania: 'All renewal in the Church must have mission as its goal if it is not to fall prey to a kind of ecclesial introversion'.-Evangelii Gaudium, n. 27, my emphasis. (shrink)

D'Orsa, Therese This passage is a kind of a signature statement of the author of Matthew as gospel writer and as Christian educator. Matthew's Gospel was written in a very demanding context following the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, a situation of chaos and exile for the community, about a half-century on from the death of Jesus. In the circumstances, Matthew's meaning-making task as leader within his community was daunting. What he was about was a task (...) not dissimilar to that confronting Catholic educators today. (shrink)