Source: http://scecclesia.com/other-stuff/my-articles/10001-2
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 20:42:52+00:00

Document:
Evangelii Gaudium is an ‘Apostolic Exhortation’ written by Pope Francis.
It was signed by the Pope on 24 November 2013, on the solemnity of Christ the King.
It is addressed to ‘bishops, clergy, consecrated persons and the lay faithful’ of the Catholic Church throughout the whole world.
The occasion for its release was the conclusion of the ‘Year of Faith’, which marked the 50th Anniversary of the Opening of the Second Vatican Council.
What is in Evangelii Gaudium?
The speech Bergoglio gave during the pre-conclave General Congregation meetings of the Cardinals.
2. – When the Church does not come out of herself to evangelize, she becomes self-referential and then gets sick. … The evils that, over time, happen in ecclesial institutions have their root in self-referentiality and a kind of theological narcissism. In Revelation, Jesus says that he is at the door and knocks. Obviously, the text refers to his knocking from the outside in order to enter but I think about the times in which Jesus knocks from within so that we will let him come out. The self-referential Church keeps Jesus Christ within herself and does not let him out.
– …Put simply, there are two images of the Church: Church which evangelizes and comes out of herself, the Dei Verbum religiose audiens et fidente proclamans; and the worldly Church, living within herself, of herself, for herself. This should shed light on the possible changes and reforms which must be done for the salvation of souls.
Why is Evangelii Gaudium important?
Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation on ‘The Joy of the Gospel’ is his blueprint for the Church’s mission in the present and in our immediate future.
The ‘Very Heart’ of Evangelii Gaudium?
So what is Pope Francis’ ‘central idea’? It is neither simple nor familiar.
But he also uses the term ‘proclamation’ 58 times and ‘witness’ 25 times. In particular he introduces the term ‘kerygma’ (8 times) and the phrase ‘first proclamation’ (5 times)!
These two unfamiliar terms are used repeatedly in a section in the centre of the document from paragraph 160 through to 185.
‘Kerygma’ is the New Testament Greek word which describes the mode of communicating the Good News by proclamation (often translated ‘preaching’ in the New Testament, but should not be narrowly associated with giving homilies or sermons).
Other Greek words for communicating the Good News: ‘catechesis’ or ‘didache’ (which both refer to teaching) or even the term ‘dialogue’.
The Age of Fulfilment has dawned, the “latter days” foretold by the prophets.
This has taken place through the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
By virtue of the resurrection Jesus has been exalted at the right hand of God as Messianic head of the new Israel.
The Messianic Age will reach its consummation in the return of Christ.
An appeal is made for repentance with the offer of forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, and salvation.
That was how they preached it then.
What, according to Pope Francis, does the ‘primary proclamation’ of the Gospel (the ‘very heart of the Gospel’) sound like on the lips of Catholics today?
EG §164. In catechesis too, we have rediscovered the fundamental role of the first announcement or kerygma, which needs to be the centre of all evangelizing activity and all efforts at Church renewal.
Not also that it is NOT a piece of information which needs to be learned or with which one can argue or debate.
EG §164. … [Finally:] This first proclamation is called “first” not because it exists at the beginning and can then be forgotten or replaced by other more important things.
‘Mercy’ is at the heart of Pope Francis’ message.
The Father’s mercy is expressed very specifically through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
We receive the Father’s mercy when the Holy Spirit compels us to believe in Jesus who died and who rose again to eternal life.
This is the Gospel announcement that Pope Francis (like the Christmas angels) believes is ‘good news of great joy for all the people’ (Luke 2:10).
It is ‘the first proclamation’ which must never be lost or pushed into the background, but rather form ‘the centre of all evangelizing activity and all efforts at Church renewal’.
“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods… When we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in context,” he said. Adding that the church should not be “obsessed” with transmitting “a disjointed multitude of doctrines,” Pope Francis said: “We have to find a new balance; otherwise the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.” Rakesh Ramchurn, “Pope Francis: Church’s ‘obsession’ with gays, abortion and contraception means it risks ‘falling like a house of cards’”, The Independent, Thursday 19 September 2013, in reference to Pope Francis’ interview in America Magazine “A Big Heart Open to God” September 30, 2013 by Antonio Spadaro, S.J.
EG §36: ‘all revealed truths derive from the same divine source and are to be believed with the same faith, yet some of them are more important for giving direct expression to the heart of the Gospel’.
In Pope Francis’ system, the ‘first proclamation’ of the love and mercy of God that comes through the death and resurrection of Jesus must have pride of place in the Church’s communication with the world.
Pope Francis is giving the Church a very real wake-up call with respect to how our witness to the Gospel is perceived.
that Jesus loves us, that he died and rose for us, and that he is living for us now to walk beside us.
The first duty of the Church is not to be a school mistress wielding a yardstick but rather a messenger, an angel, bringing news of comfort and joy.
B) when we fail to show the charity and love which is at the very heart of the Kingdom of God which the Good News proclaims.
EG §39. “…Under no circumstance can this invitation be obscured! All of the virtues are at the service of this response of love. If this invitation does not radiate forcefully and attractively, the edifice of the Church’s moral teaching risks becoming a house of cards, and this is our greatest risk. It would mean that it is not the Gospel which is being preached, but certain doctrinal or moral points based on specific ideological options. The message will run the risk of losing its freshness and will cease to have “the fragrance of the Gospel”.
Pope Francis is an apostle of the Gospel.
He is so attractive to the world precisely because in his own self he appears to embody all the ‘meaning, beauty and attractiveness’ of the Good News of Jesus.
People see in him what they might perhaps see in Jesus if they were to encounter him face to face.
The old saying is that ‘you can’t give what you don’t have’.
Therefore the start of this “new path” and “new chapter” is to be “a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ” (EG §3).
“There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter” (§6) (cf. §85 and his warning against being “sourpusses”).
Thus, it is not just a ‘personal encounter’ with Jesus Christ that the Church aims at, but also (by means of our proclamation of the Gospel) the encounter of whole societies with Jesus Christ.

References: §164
 §164
 §36
 §39
 §3
 §85