173. In what sense is the Church missionary? (part 2) (continuation)

173. In what sense is the Church missionary? (part 2) (continuation)

(Comp 173 repetition) The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, continues the mission of Christ himself in the course of history. Christians must, therefore, proclaim to everyone the Good News borne by Christ; and, following his path, they must be ready for self-sacrifice, even unto martyrdom.

“In brief”

(CCC 852) Missionary paths. The Holy Spirit is the protagonist, "the principal agent of the whole of the Church's mission" (John Paul II, RMiss 21). It is he who leads the Church on her missionary paths. "This mission continues and, in the course of history, unfolds the mission of Christ, who was sent to evangelize the poor; so the Church, urged on by the Spirit of Christ, must walk the road Christ himself walked, a way of poverty and obedience, of service and self-sacrifice even to death, a death from which he emerged victorious by his resurrection" (AG 5). So it is that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians" (Tertullian, Apol. 50, 13: PL 1, 603).

To deepen and explain

(CCC 854) By her very mission, "the Church… travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God" (GS 40 § 2). Missionary endeavor requires patience. It begins with the proclamation of the Gospel to peoples and groups who do not yet believe in Christ (Cf. RMiss 42-47), continues with the establishment of Christian communities that are "a sign of God's presence in the world" (AG 15 § 1), and leads to the foundation of local churches (Cf. RMiss 48-49). It must involve a process of inculturation if the Gospel is to take flesh in each people's culture (Cf. RMiss 52-54). There will be times of defeat. "With regard to individuals, groups, and peoples it is only by degrees that [the Church] touches and penetrates them and so receives them into a fullness which is Catholic" (AG 6 § 2).

On reflection

(CCC 856) The missionary task implies a respectful dialogue with those who do not yet accept the Gospel (Cf. RMiss 55). Believers can profit from this dialogue by learning to appreciate better "those elements of truth and grace which are found among peoples, and which are, as it were, a secret presence of God" (AG 9). They proclaim the Good News to those who do not know it, in order to consolidate, complete, and raise up the truth and the goodness that God has distributed among men and nations, and to purify them from error and evil "for the glory of God, the confusion of the demon, and the happiness of man" (AG 9). [END]

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