Tuesday, June 30, 2015

The Joy of the Gospel - 181


181. The kingdom, already present and growing in our midst, engages us at every level of our being and reminds us of the principle of discernment which Pope Paul VI applied to true development: it must be directed to “all men and the whole man”.[145]We know that “evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man’s concrete life, both personal and social”.[146] This is the principle of universality intrinsic to the Gospel, for the Father desires the salvation of every man and woman, and his saving plan consists in “gathering up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1:10). Our mandate is to “go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mk16:15), for “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (Rom 8:19). Here, “the creation” refers to every aspect of human life; consequently, “the mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ has a universal destination. Its mandate of charity encompasses all dimensions of existence, all individuals, all areas of community life, and all peoples. Nothing human can be alien to it”.[147] True Christian hope, which seeks the eschatological kingdom, always generates history.

[145] Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio (16 March 1967), 14: AAS 59 (1967), 264.

[146] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 29: AAS 68 (1976), 25.

[147] Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Aparecida Document, 29 June 2007, 380.


© LIBRERIA EDITRICE VATICANA.