Phil Mayland, Birmingham Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission Member 

This is a personal reflection, in the hope that we may be reminded that we are all called to respond to Church teachings.

At Advent in 2019, Archbishop Bernard launched his Diocesan Vision, inspired by Pope Francis’ Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel. The Diocesan Vision aims to help us all to understand what it is to be missionary disciples. There is a big change happening throughout our Archdiocese in terms of parishes being amalgamated or administered in clusters and Deaneries being re-organised; fewer deaneries, but larger ones. And of course, as we know, there are fewer priests to guide us in our spiritual lives, to say Mass, to administer sacraments and to inspire us in our own journeys. Based on Evangelii Gaudium, the Diocesan Vision gives us four pillars: Evangelisation; Formation; Liturgy and Worship; and Social Outreach, with particular emphasis on families and young people. I am concerned with Social Outreach. I believe that much more can, and should, be done in our parishes, and with the changes being implemented, work on ‘Social Outreach’ has the potential to bring us closer together.

Many years ago, when I joined the Justice and Peace Commission, the assemblies that we organised in October would have been attended by well over 100 people. Since the pandemic, numbers have fallen away. We organised assemblies online, (as well as Online Fora), but numbers were fewer. In the last few years we have held the Assembly at St Chad's Cathedral, but attendance has dwindled. One of the features of the assemblies was a display of reports from parishes justice and peace groups. We used to fill notice boards with these reports, but over the last three years the number of reports has dwindled to less than a handful. Does this mean that no work on social outreach is happening in our parishes? Does this mean that we are forgetting our mission?

Let's just return to Evangelii Gaudium. This Apostolic Exhortation was published in November 2013, a few months after Pope Francis' election as Pope. It is based on the Synod of Bishops, which took place in October 2012 with the theme “The New Evangelization for the transmission of the Christian Faith”, as well as the Holy Father’s own observations. This document makes clear that Jesus gave us a mandate to go forth and make disciples. Do we feel that we really are ‘missionary disciples’?

In this document Pope Francis repeats a warning, which was originally given by Pope Benedict, to the Bishops in South America.

“So the biggest threat of all gradually takes shape: The grey pragmatism of the daily life of the church, in which all appears to proceed normally, while in reality faith is wearing down and degenerating into small mindedness. A tomb psychology thus develops and slowly transforms Christians into mummies in a museum. Disillusioned with reality, with the Church and with themselves, they experience a constant temptation to cling to a faint melancholy, lacking in hope, which seizes the heart like ‘the most precious of the Devil's potions’. Called to radiate light and communicate life, in the end, they are caught up in things that generate only darkness and inner weariness and slowly consume all zeal for the apostolate. For all this, I repeat, Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the joy of evangelization! (E.G.83)

Parishes which are engaged in social outreach, in service to the most vulnerable in our communities, will avoid this decline. I will quote a few of Pope Francis's words from Chapter Four.

“To evangelise is to make the Kingdom of God present in our world”. (EG 176). “At the very heart of the gospel is life in community and engagement with others. The content of the first proclamation has an immediate moral implication centred on charity.” (EG 177).

“To believe in a father who loves all men and women with an infinite love means realising that he confers upon them an infinite dignity. (JP2). To believe that the Son of God assumed our human flesh means that each human person has been taken up into the very heart of God. To believe that Jesus shed his blood for us removes any doubt about the boundless love which enobles each human being. Our redemption has a social dimension because God in Christ redeems not only the individual person, but also the social relations existing between men. To believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in everyone means realising that he seeks to penetrate every human situation and all social bonds. Evangelization is meant to cooperate with this liberating work of the Spirit. (EG 178).

In EG 179, Pope Francis quotes passages from Scripture, Matthew 25 ‘As you did it to one of these, the least to my brother, and you did it to me’. Matthew 7:2 ‘The measure you give will be the measure you get’; Luke Ch.6: ‘Be merciful as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.’

“These passages make clear the absolute priority of going forth from ourselves towards our brothers and sisters as one of the two great commandments which ground every moral norm. By her very nature the Church is missionary; she abounds in effective charity and a compassion which understands, assists and promotes.”

“It is no longer possible to claim that religion should be restricted to the private sphere and that it exists only to prepare souls for heaven”. (EG182.) “Consequently, no one can demand religion should be relegated to the inner sanctum of personal life, without influence on societal and national life, without concern for the soundness of civil institutions, without a right to offer an opinion on events affecting society. …. An authentic faith always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it.” (EG 183).

Pope Francis goes on to discuss in detail two issues which are extremely fundamental and important. Firstly, the Inclusion of the Poor in Society; and then, Peace and Social Dialogue.

“Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society.” (EG 187).

“The Church has realised that the need to heed this plea is born of the liberating action of grace within each of us, and thus it's not a question of a mission reserved only to a few. The Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy and by love for mankind, hears the cry for justice and intends to respond to it with all her might. It means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and promote the integral development of the poor as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter. The word solidarity is a little worn and at times poorly understood but it refers to something more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mindset which thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few”.(EG 188).

These few extracts from Evangelii Gaudium should be enough for all of us to reflect and respond to the call to do more to bring about God’s Kingdom, here in our own communities. Please read the full document, not as a novel or story, but as a text; read and re-read. So let us return to consider our own parish(es). Do we have any active groups working on Social Outreach? The SVP do wonderful work. Their actions are, of course, confidential, but is there an active SVP in your parish?

Is there a Justice and Peace group? Or a CAFOD group? Laudato Si'? Care for Creation? Caritas/Fr Hudson's? Or any other group which tries to assist those most vulnerable.

If not, can you start one? Why not join up with those in your sister parish? And remember to be joyful.

I will close with two more quotes from Pope Francis’ Exhortation:

“The great danger in today’s world, pervaded by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of His love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.” (EG2).

“I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting Him encounter them: I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day” (EG3).

For further information and/or support, please contact the Justice and Peace Commission, via email: [email protected]

Justice and Peace Commission website