THEOLOGY 3:

CHRISTIAN VISION OF THE CHURCH IN SOCIETY:

Building Christian Communities through
Renewed Integral Evangelization

Bryan B. Albia Instructor

How does the Church see evangelization
in the present realities?
The main task of the Church in
the Philippines is to encourage its
flocks to become active members
of Christian communities and to
lead people to authentic renewal
through meaningful proclamation
of the Good News in order to
address some existing
contradictions in the Philippines
such as massive poverty,
unemployment, graft and
corruption and drug addiction.
The Vision-Mission of the 2nd Plenary Council of the Philippines
We, as church in the Philippines, with total trust in god‘s love,
envision ourselves as the community of disciples, who firmly
believe in the Lord Jesus and joyfully live in harmony and
solidarity with one another, with creation, and with God.

Following the way of our Lord, we opt to be a Church of the Poor,

which demands evangelical poverty of us all…

To achieve this vision, under the leading of the spirit of god and
with Mary as our guide, we shall embark on a renewed integral
evangelization and witness to Jesus Christ‘s Gospel of salvation
and liberation through our words, deeds and lives.
The Vision-Mission of the 2nd Plenary Council of the Philippines

As bishops, priests, religious and laity, we

together commit ourselves to implement
the spirit and decrees of the second
plenary council of the Philippines in order
to inculturate gospel values in our milieu
by this shall kaayusan (order in harmony)
be achieved through persons who are
maka-Diyos, maka-tao, makabayan and
maka-buhay.
 a. Community of Disciples
A real community of
disciples is patterned
whose faith in Jesus is
after the Holy Trinity
expressed in a Church It also approximates
where the three divine
in mission that the early apostolic
Persons: unique, equal
includes Asia and the Christian communities.
and united are in
whole creation.
constant sharing and
in mission.
 b. The Church of the Poor
Our priority must be programs for the This is
conscientization, evangelization and empowerment of
organization of the marginalized poor. the laity especially
the poor for active
participation and
Second, into sectoral
First, into small groups to attend to leadership in the
communities of faith and specific needs in cultural, Church‘s life and
discernment. political, economic and mission.
religious institutions.
 c. Basic Ecclesial Communities or BECs as
Community of Disciples
Patterned after the
Domus Ecclesia or
House Church They share the
BECs are small which was the Word of God and
Church known to The members Their poverty
communities are guided by They share not
have a strong and their faith
whose members the early Christians regular only their
where they sense of lead them to
are in unity and catechesis. They spiritual
gathered at a belongingness involvement in
solidarity with house of a member gather around concerns but also
and action for justice
one another and and then there the Eucharist and the material
responsibility for and social
with their they share the have a vibrant concerns.
one another. transformation.
pastors. Word of God and celebration of life
partake of in the liturgy.
whatever each of
them can offer.
The vision of the Church as community of disciples
can be concretely experienced in the BECs.

Without the BECs, the communitarian nature of the

Church and of discipleship remains an abstraction.

In the BECs, the ordinary Christians are awakened

to their call to live their discipleship fully and
actively and in the context of the community.
 The community of disciples is an evangelized and
evangelizing community.

It witnesses to the coming of God's Kingdom. It is

prophetic community that proclaims the message of
the Kingdom, i.e., the message of salvation and
liberation.

As Community of Disciples, the BECs celebrate the

presence of Christ in the Sacraments.
Like Christ, BECs are concerned about
the plight of the poor and the needy,
those who are sick, who are hungry,
who are in prison.

They actively participate in the

building of the Kingdom of God, a
kingdom of justice, peace and love.
The community of disciples is truly a
servant community.
The 9 Pastoral Priorities of the Catholic Church in the Philippines

Active Presence and

Empowerment of the Laity
Integral Faith Formation Participation of the Poor in the
toward Social Transformation
Church

Building and strengthening of

The Family as the Focal Point of Participatory Communities that
Integral Renewal of the Clergy
Evangelization make up the Parish as a
Community of Communities

Ecumenism and Inter-religious Animation and Formation for

Journeying with the Youth
Dialogue “Missio Ad Gentes”
The 9 Pastoral Priorities of the Catholic Church in the Philippines

Integral Faith Formation

At the heart of pastoral renewal
is faith formation.
It has to be a discerning faith that
We must have integral faith to
sees the action of God in our lives
fulfill our vocation and mission.
and in our communities.

Empowerment of the Laity toward Social Transformation

We shall promote and support the exercise of the Lay people must take the lead in social
God-given gifts and charisms of lay people. transformation.
 The 9 Pastoral Priorities of the Catholic Church in the Philippines

Active Presence and Participation of the Poor in the Church

We shall learn from the poor and seek to liberate ourselves
If we are to become a Church of the poor, we must be
from values, behavior and lifestyles that discriminate
evangelically poor.
against the poor.

The Family as the Focal Point of Evangelization

The family is the basic cell of
the Church and society, the
Gospel has first to be shared
in the family.
Integral faith formation
The family has to become a
Many cultural distortions must, therefore, take place
key agent of proclaiming the
originate in the family. in the family for all
Gospel.
members.
The 9 Pastoral Priorities of the Catholic Church in the Philippines

Building and strengthening of Participatory Communities

that make up the Parish as a Community of Communities
We shall support the growth
We shall strive to integrate
and strengthening of Basic
them in parish life and
Ecclesial Communities and
activities and develop
other forms of faith
structures of coordination and
communities as a vehicles of
participatory decision-making.
renewal.
The 9 Pastoral Priorities of the Catholic Church in the Philippines

Integral Renewal of the Clergy

To address the lack of witnessing
by some of the clergy, we shall
ensure deeper dialogue of life
between the clergy and the poor
so that lifestyles may conform to
that of the poor Christ.
For genuine servant-leadership,
we shall provide effective clergy
formation in human
development, spirituality,
scripture, theology, pastoral care
and mission.
The 9 Pastoral Priorities of the Catholic Church in the Philippines

Journeying with the Youth

They are some of the
most active workers of
We shall dialogue with
renewal in the Church We affirm their gifts
them, enter their world,
The youth are the most and in society. But they and immense capacity
and journey with them
numerous in our are also most to pursue the Christian
toward the maturity of
population. vulnerable to the ideal in their lives and in
Christ to which we all
negative developments society.
aspire.
in our rising
technological society.
The 9 Pastoral Priorities of the Catholic Church in the Philippines

Ecumenism and Inter-religious

Dialogue
To achieve the unity that Christ willed,
we shall strive to eradicate prejudices, As a way of healing, reconciliation and
grow in deeper understanding and national unity, we shall encourage
appreciation of other faiths, and dialogue among all sectors of society.
religious traditions, especially Islam.
The 9 Pastoral Priorities of the Catholic Church in the Philippines

Animation and Formation for “Missio Ad Gentes”

Therefore, we shall ensure

We shall respond to the Holy
that mission animation and
Father‘s challenge that
formation will be integral to
Filipinos become ―the
religious formation in the
foremost missionaries for all
family, schools, and other
of Asia‖.
institutes of formation.
 New Evangelization

The call to the new

Is a technical term
evangelization is a call
used by Pope John
for the baptized In modern times this
Paul II in his encyclical
Evangelization members of the means re-proposing
Redemptoris Missio in
can be new in Church to deepen the Gospel to people
1992 in order to
its ardor, their faith and reach in countries and
revitalize the faith,
methods, and out to other cultures heavily
give dynamism to the
expression. Christians in deep influenced by
building up of the
need of a new secularization.
Church and to draw
encounter with
people to unity.
Christ.
 New Evangelization is doable through:

a. Evangelization by Attraction
When our communities show a Christ-like love characterized by joyful unity as exemplified
by the first Christian communities the world will once more take notice and exclaim again,
―See these Christians, how they love one another!

b. Evangelization in a Digital World

The Church has to enter The digital world is To neglect to use these means is
In today‘s world, you are to neglect one of the most
this world and use it to where people live today
not “in” if you are not in potent instruments the Lord has
communicate the Good and where they can be given us to communicate the
the digital world.
News to all peoples. reached. Good News to all peoples.
 New Evangelization is doable through:

c. Evangelization and
Conversion
The first response
The Greek word
that is expected of
used in the New
those who heard
Testament for
the preaching of
repentance is
the Good News is
metanoia.
repentance.
 New Evangelization is doable through:
c. Evangelization and
Conversion What is to repent? It is to First, it is a change of
change. mind, a change in our
way of thinking, a
change in our
“pananaw.”

Second is a change of
heart, a change in our
attitude, in our
“kalooban.”

The third change is a

change of behavior or
“pagkilos.”
ACTIVITY Written Work:

• Design a project that promotes

integral evangelization.
• The class will be divided into
groups.
• The task is to plan and design a
project that will promote
integral evangelization.
• Present your step-by-step
plans in both written and oral
presentation.