According to Pope Francis, “The history of evangelization began with the Lord’s own passionate desire to call and enter into friendly dialogue with everyone just as they are.” And, as Christians, we too, are called to evangelize.
“Creating a Culture of Encounter: A Guide for Joyful Missionary Disciples” provides us a process for reaching out to others and share the Good News of Jesus Christ and serve as a light for those who may be struggling with darkness.
This book is authored by “various members of the sub-committee on Hispanic affairs with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and it is an adaptation of the process developed for the V National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry (primary activity of the USCCB Strategic Plan: 2017-2020).”
The book is designed to serve as a “Guide for Joyful Missionary Disciples” and as a “process of formation in the faith that invites all Catholics in the United States to an intense missionary activity, in the spirit of the New Evangelization.” It is “bilingual” with the first 56 pages written in English and the last 56 pages written in Spanish.
The three main parts to this book are:
Introduction;
Sessions of the guide for creating a culture of encounter;
Resources for the encounter process.
At the heart of the encounter process is a five-week experience of reflection and evangelization guided by five themes, inspired by Pope Francis’s call to foster a culture of encounter (The Joy of the Gospel). The five themes are:
Called to a loving encounter with Jesus in the Church;
With words and actions: Do it!
Walking together with Jesus;
Bearing fruits of new life;
Celebrating the joy of being missionary disciples.
As Christians, we are called to serve as missionaries spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to all we encounter. Pope Francis, in his “Joy of the Gospel” exhortation, shares a powerful vision and strong encouragement for us to expand our missionary encounters to include those we may not normally include.
We are asked, and are capable of, doing better. We can, by God’s grace, overcome the limitations we have placed on our missionary outreach and stretch the circle of our encounters to include those on the peripheries. Creating a culture of encounter appears to be an excellent tool for learning how to improve our service as missionaries.
This book is well-organized and offers clear guidance for those who want to design and deliver a powerful formation experience to parish missionaries empowering them to respond to Pope Francis’s exhortation and propose the Good News to those who may live in the peripheries of society.
John H. Dolezal is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.