October 17: “All dimensions of existence”

On many occasions, the Pope has spoken highly of Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi as the best expression of the Church’s renewed appreciation of popular piety. As chief editor of the Aparecida document, he has also spoken of the Latin American bishops’ text as his continent’s Evangelii Nuntiandi. There is a fine passage in the fourth chapter that brings these two texts dear to Pope Francis close to each other, bound by verses from the New Testament.

In Paragraph 181, we read: “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.’ 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” (Mk 16:15), 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.’”

The first quotation, about “unceasing interplay,” is from Paul VI; the quotation that seeks to close the paragraph, about the universal mandate of charity, is from the bishops of Latin American and the Caribbean. The entire paragraph is about the all-encompassing nature of evangelization; it must permeate all dimensions of existence, not only the spiritual but the here and now.

In other words: “True Christian hope, which seeks the eschatological kingdom, always generates history.”