The Initial
Proclamation of Christ the Savior
44.
Proclamation is the permanent priority of mission. The Church cannot elude
Christ's explicit mandate, nor deprive men and women of the "Good
News" about their being loved and saved by God. "Evangelization will
always contain - as the foundation, center and at the same time the summit of
its dynamism - a clear proclamation that, in Jesus Christ...salvation is
offered to all people, as a gift of God's grace and mercy."72 All
forms of missionary activity are directed to this proclamation, which reveals
and gives access to the mystery hidden for ages and made known in Christ (cf.
Eph 3:3-9; Col
1:25-29), the mystery which lies at the heart of the Church's
mission and life, as the hinge on which all evangelization turns.
In the complex reality of
mission, initial proclamation has a central and irreplaceable role, since it
introduces man "into the mystery of the love of God, who invites him to
enter into a personal relationship with himself in Christ"73 and
opens the way to conversion. Faith is born of preaching, and every ecclesial
community draws its origin and life from the personal response of each believer
to that preaching.74 Just as the whole economy of salvation has its
center in Christ, so too all missionary activity is directed to the
proclamation of his mystery.
The subject of proclamation
is Christ who was crucified, died and is risen: through him is accomplished our
full and authentic liberation from evil, sin and death; through him God bestows
"new life" that is divine and eternal. This is the "Good
News" which changes man and his history, and which all peoples have a
right to hear. This proclamation is to be made within the context of the lives
of the individuals and peoples who receive it. It is to be made with an
attitude of love and esteem toward those who hear it, in language which is
practical and adapted to the situation. In this proclamation the Spirit is at
work and establishes a communion between the missionary and his hearers, a
communion which is possible inasmuch as both enter into communion with God the
Father through Christ.75
45.
Proclamation, because it is made in union with the entire ecclesial community, is
never a merely personal act. The missionary is present and carries out his work
by virtue of a mandate he has received; even if he finds himself alone, he
remains joined by invisible but profound bonds to the evangelizing activity of
the whole Church.76 Sooner or later, his hearers come to recognize in
him the community which sent him and which supports him.
Proclamation is inspired by
faith, which gives rise to enthusiasm and fervor in the missionary. As already
mentioned, the Acts of the Apostles uses the word parrhesia to describe
this attitude, a word which means to speak frankly and with courage. This term
is found also in St. Paul: "We had courage in our God to declare to you
the Gospel of God in the face of great opposition" (1
Th 2:2); "Pray...also for me, that utterance may be given me in
opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel for which I am an
ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak"
(Eph 6:18-20).
In proclaiming Christ to
non-Christians, the missionary is convinced that, through the working of the
Spirit, there already exists in individuals and peoples an expectation, even if
an unconscious one, of knowing the truth about God, about man, and about how we
are to be set free from sin and death. The missionary's enthusiasm in
proclaiming Christ comes from the conviction that he is responding to that
expectation, and so he does not become discouraged or cease his witness even
when he is called to manifest his faith in an environment that is hostile or
indifferent. He knows that the Spirit of the Father is speaking through him
(cf. Mt 10:17-20; Lk
12:11-12) and he can say with the apostles: "We are witnesses
to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit" (Acts
5:32). He knows that he is not proclaiming a human truth, but the
"word of God," which has an intrinsic and mysterious power of its own
(cf. Rom 1:16).
The supreme test is the
giving of one's life, to the point of accepting death in order to bear witness
to one's faith in Jesus Christ. Throughout Christian history, martyrs, that is,
"witnesses," have always been numerous and indispensable to the
spread of the Gospel. In our own age, there are many: bishops, priests, men and
women religious, lay people - often unknown heroes who give their lives to bear
witness to the faith. They are par excellence the heralds and witnesses
of the faith.
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