Living as Missionary Disciples

Conclusion No pastoral plan in and of itself will evangelize and cause people to live as missionary disciples. A plan is not an end in itself. It is a means of nurturing, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, the witness to Christ in the world. Faithful witnesses have encountered Christ, been accompanied and formed by the community of faith, and have been sent on mission to trans form the world through the grace of Christ. Pastoral leaders cannot do this task of forming missionary disciples alone. Evangelizing parishes that form missionary disciples foster co-responsibility among all the baptized. Pope Francis reminded pastoral leaders in the United States of this way of being Church during his apostolic visit in 2015: One of the great challenges facing the Church in this generation is to foster in all the faithful a sense of personal responsibility for the Church’s mission, and to enable them to fulfill that responsibility as missionary disciples, as a leaven of the Gospel in our world. This will require creativity in adapting to changed situations, carrying forward the legacy of the past not primarily by maintaining our structures and institutions, which have served us well, but above all by being open to the possibilities which the Spirit opens up to us and communicat ing the joy of the Gospel, daily and in every season of our life. 72 May the theological and pastoral resources provided assist your community of faith in its journey toward forming missionary disciples and transforming the world with the love and mercy of Jesus Christ! Mary, Star of the New Evangelization, pray for us!

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