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As centers of missionary outreach, Families of Parishes find new ways to foster missionary discipleship among all the baptized. Schools, parishes, and indeed the domestic Church itself are centers of this essential work.
Missionary Discipleship: Implement a simple and clear discipleship process for all ages that ultimately equips and commissions missionary disciples for personal apostolate and vocation.
Grounded in Discernment: The pastor, staff, and lay leaders prioritize prayer, formation, and discernment in order to allow the Holy Spirit to inspire their evangelization efforts.
Family Partnership: The domestic church is the primary place of evangelization of young people and is well supported by the parish.
Prioritize Adult Formation: The principal form for evangelization and catechesis is directed toward adults and is given priority.
Effective Schools: Parish schools become an essential ministry of the parish by being an “effective vehicle of total Christian formation” for young people and their parents.
A Culture of Vocation: Prepare individuals to discern and embrace their vocation. Support parents as they cultivate vocations within the family, help single young people actively discern their vocation, and accompany couples through the marriage catechumenate.
Every Family of Parishes will create and implement a plan that ministers to all persons in every season of life and every stage in the process of evangelization.
What This Means: Implementing a process of evangelization is two-fold. It must take into account every stage of life, with a preferential option for evangelizing the family. In addition, every stage of life must offer a process of evangelization that includes pre-evangelization, primary proclamation, initiatory and ongoing catechesis, and formation in missionary discipleship.
Why This Matters: The goal of a parish evangelization process is for the parish to become a “center of constant missionary outreach,” by “transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world” (Evangelii Gaudium).
Every Family of Parishes will have an Evangelization Team, overseen by the pastor and led by competent and qualified staff.
What This Means: The Evangelization Team will be tasked with the creation and implementation of the evangelization process. This team includes members with clear job descriptions and responsibilities that cover evangelization of all life stages. The members of this team have clear lines of accountability, ultimately accountable to the pastor.
Why This Matters: Communion and mission are profoundly interconnected. Evangelization must be the fruit of a community of disciples. A coordinated process of evangelization requires a coordinated effort on the part of the pastor, parish staff and lay leaders.
I am convinced that Beacons of Light, born of great hope, will enable us to form stronger parishes, centered on the Eucharist, that radiate the love of Christ and joy of the Gospel… God has abundantly blessed our first two centuries and will certainly bless the next.
