Missionary conversion of the parish

Abstract

The Church was born from the mission of Jesus Christ, which he left to his disciples when he left this world. The growth and development of the community is the result of the willing response to the evangelizing command of our Lord, which was given by His disciples and then subsequent generations of believers. The proclamation of the Good News is therefore related to the Church and constitutes its essence, i.e. missionary vocation. The evangelizing mission introduces Christians to the heart of the Lord God, whose deepest desire is to lead every person to Salvation (cf. 1 Cor 2:4). The purpose of preaching the Gospel is to discover and implement God’s will regarding Salvation, so it is not one of the tasks of the Church, but is its essence. Pope Paul VI, who emphasized that evangelization is the primary and natural mission of the Church, which it should consider a grace and a proper vocation (cf. Evangelii nuntiandi, 2). Paul VI clearly stated that the community of the Church is for evangelization. Every member of the Church constantly needs conversion, it is a condition without which the mission of the Church cannot be properly implemented. Pope Francis noticed that over time and the development of Christianity, in many regions of the world, the Church’s activity, to a greater or lesser extent, lost its evangelizing purpose, and was replaced by concern for the preservation and development of the position acquired by the Church in a given nation and culture, and maintaining in its ranks people who have already received the first sacrament of Christian initiation. Therefore, in order for the Church to fully take up its deepest calling, a missionary transformation of the entire community of believers and the conversion of pastoral care is necessary today (cf. Evangelii gaudium, 25, 27). Modern man, both believers and non-believers, needs conversion and community to find the meaning of his life and the vocation with which he has been given.