Daily Mass Gospel Reflection - The Mission Has A Church

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 09-06-23 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Luke 4:38-44

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares his mission:
“I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent.”
And he continues to pursue his mission among us
in our efforts to do the work of evangelization.

Do we need evangelization? The statistics couldn’t be clearer.
Did you know that the fastest-growing category in polls of religious affiliation is “none”?
And did you know that there are far more “nones” than Catholics in this country?

So, Catholics cannot avoid the demand of evangelization, proclaiming the faith.
Vatican II couldn’t be clearer on this score,
seeing the Church itself as nothing but a vehicle for evangelization:
it’s not so much the case that the Church has a mission,
but rather that a mission has the Church.

St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II made this idea central to their teaching.
In fact, John Paul famously called for a New Evangelization.
Bringing people to Christ is not one work among many;
rather, it is the central work of the Church,
that around which everything else that we do revolves.

[MurphsLaw]

+++After Jesus left the synagogue,
he entered the house of Simon.
Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.

At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases
brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting,
"You are the Son of God."
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.

At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, "To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent."
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.+++

[ebb tide]

Vatican II couldn’t be clearer on this score, seeing the Church itself as nothing but a vehicle for evangelization

Nothing but a bald faced lie!