Today we begin a look at fifteen needed developments to present the Gospel more fruitfully. The aim is to the baptized, those unchurched, and the various stages in between. Let’s read:
518. So that the inhabitants of cities and their outskirts, both believers and non-believers, can find fullness of life in Christ, we feel the need that pastoral agents, as disciples and missionaries, must to strive to develop:
a) A pastoral style appropriate to the urban situation with special attention to language, pastoral structures and practices, and schedules.
The hardest of all is to disrupt age-old traditions. Structures and practices: these we tend to retain even when their effectiveness has faded. Schedules: perhaps most of all we resist any change on this front. When was the last time your parish changed its Mass schedule?
For deeper examination, an English translation of the 2007 document from the Aparecida Conference.
