Bishop Richard has requested that all parts of the Diocese meet to have a conversation about our mission and our future. He quoted Pope Francis: "all of us are asked to obey the call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the ‘peripheries’ in need of the light of the Gospel" (EG20) In preparation for this Michael Hornsby-Smith has produced a contribution and kindly allowed it to be published below. The meetings will be held on Monday 15th January, 10am at St Pius X Church Hall and Thursday 18th January, 8pm at St Joseph’s Church Hall THE WORD WHO IS LIFE: VISION FOR MISSION A Contribution to the Parish Conversation I Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) espec. Sections 849-886, 897-913. These make particular reference to the Vatican II documents, espec. Ad Gentes and Lumen Gentium. Themes include:
II Vatican II: Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church (Ad Gentes) Ch. 2 is on 'Mission Work Itself' and includes:
III Vatican II: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) Ch. 4 The Laity: 'the laity by their very vocation seek the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God' (LG 31). They participate in the priestly, prophetic and kingly functions of Christ. Their prophetic role amounts to 'evangelisation, that is, the announcing of Christ by a living testimony (witness) as well as by the spoken word' (LG 35). IV Some Personal Questions and Suggestions How do we bring about the Kingdom of God in our parish, local society (Guildford), nation, global world? I suggest we need to be inducted more into the Kingdom of God with its concerns for Human dignity, common good, solidarity, subsidiarity, preferential option for the poor and preferential option for non-violence and the call of Jesus in Luke 4 to 'go and preach the Good News to the poor'; learn about Catholic Social Teaching; and the importance and priority of pursuing Justice and Peace in our parish in ecumenical collaboration and dialogue. V The Diocesan Questions
MPHS 19/12/17
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