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Christians accept that the Gospel is all about the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Christo-centric characteristic of the Gospel is undeniable. This was also reiterated by His Holiness Pope Francis at the beginning of his message for World Mission Day 2017 when he said, “Once again this year, World Mission Day gathers us around the person of Jesus, the very first and greatest evangelizer (Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 7)”. This article explains the concept formulated as “Gospel of the People, by the People and for the People”.

Gospel of the People

It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, the same Jesus encourages his apostles to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16: 15). This is a mission He, Jesus, entrusts to the people. The book of the Acts of the Apostles is one of the best references showing how many disciples, such as James, Peter, and Paul, carried out this mission. Through their arduous journey, one can surely realise that it is a mission of courage, zeal, enthusiasm, passion, patience, responsibility, eagerness, faith, prayer, and actions wrapped by the guidance of the holy spirit. A mission of this reality can only be accomplished when the people fully accept to “own” the gospel. People must feel the conviction to engage with the Good News. Only with this life experience may the people convincingly join Saint Paul, saying, ‘’ I no longer live, but Christ lives in me’’ (Gal 2: 20). With that, the Gospel becomes their mission. Only with this dimension of ownership can the people find themselves integrated in the work of apostles, where they can evangelise with passion and love. They don’t see the mission of evangelisation as a burden, but they do it like living their everyday life. That is where the Gospel of Jesus becomes their identity.

 Gospel by the People.

Today, the church counts many institutions and movements of lay people acting around the world, especially after the Council of Vatican II. The historian Massimo Faggioli tells it more in his book “The Rising Laity: Ecclesial Movements since Vatican II.” This indicates that the laymen and laywomen are an integral part of the Church. So, they are encouraged to be aware of their responsibility to participate in ecclesial matters. It is, therefore, the gospel by the people. Chapter IV of the Lumen Gentium, dedicated to the Laity, quotes that the whole Church, strengthened by each one of its members, may more effectively fulfil its mission for the life of the world. Their pastors know how much the laity contributes to the welfare of the entire Church.

Centenary of the Pauline Cooperators.

This year, 2017-2018, the Pauline Cooperators are celebrating their centenary since the foundation of their Association in 1917. These are laymen, laywomen and young adults from different courses of life who, in their daily lives as husbands, mothers, teachers, doctors, engineers, journalists, students, etc., commit themselves fully to live their Christian life, sharing the Pauline spirituality and mission, that is centred in Jesus Christ the Way- the Truth and the Life in the spirit of Saint Paul the Apostle, under the protection of Mary Queen of the Apostles, with a vocation to communicating the Gospel to all. They participate in the Pauline ministry of evangelisation using the media of communication: book publishing, production of audio and video material, website, and social media. 

It is remarkable that 100 years ago, the founder of the Pauline Family, Blessed James Alberione, a Diocesan Priest from the North of Italy, realised the necessity to collaborate with the lay people as their contribution would be capital for the life of the Church and the society. He urged to “raise apostles, in the spirit of Saint Paul, who set up a network of collaborators so that the proclamation of the Gospel could be extended beyond borders. (J. Alberione).

The Daughters of Saint Paul have trained and formed more than 2000 Pauline Cooperators globally. Credit must be given to the founder, Blessed James Alberione, who, back in 1917, about 50 years before the Council Vatican II, initiated a beautiful project to create the Association of the Pauline Cooperators. Out of the ten branches of the Pauline family, the Cooperators were the third branch he founded. He created the Society of Saint Paul in 1914, the Daughters of Saint Paul in 1915, and the Association of the Laity in 1917. Chronologically, it shows that the laypeople had an important place in his vision for the Church and society. Enabling lay people to work with ecclesial matters was an almost unimaginable dream 50 years before Vatican II. He was a prophet. He knew that the mission of the Church would become a gospel accomplished by the people.

 A centenary is worth celebrating. The Pauline Cooperators around the world were busy organising several events such as seminars, festivals, prayer groups, conferences, online podcasts, radio and TV programs, and book exhibitions in parishes, schools and many other places in their local regions. A solemn opening of the Jubilee with a Eucharistic Celebration took place on 30 June 2017 at the Saint Paul’s Basilica in Rome. The official closing will occur at the same Basilica on 30 June 2018. A two-day conference for the Cooperators will be organised in Rome on the theme “My collaborators in the Gospel”. A nine-day pilgrimage takes place in May 2018, where the Cooperators will have an opportunity to pray and contemplate the historical sites of the Pauline family in Italy, finishing with a probable papal audience. 

Gospel for the People.

For Christians, it is true that the Gospel of Jesus changes life, transforms people’s hearts, saves their souls, and nourishes their spirits. The world today is no different from the earlier times when the children of Israel profaned the name of God. Corruption, misinterpreted relativism, abuse of the vulnerable in society, human trafficking, lack of integrity, capitalism, and human slavery in our lifetime are signs showing that the world and people living in it today are in desperate need of the Gospel. The people on earth are then the first beneficiary of the fruit of the mission. It becomes the Gospel for the people.

 It needs the people.

Undoubtedly, the laymen and laywomen must stand up and work for the mission He Himself, Jesus Christ our Lord, entrusted them. That call from Jesus to go out into the whole world and proclaim the Good News was not just made for the bishops, priests and religious brothers and sisters. The laity must feel integrated in this vocation. The Church has already initiated the process.  It is now up to the people themselves to get into action. All the beautiful dreams and wishes people would have for themselves, their families, and the world will be accomplished only when they apply the Gospel in their lives. The people of society need to get involved by working with the Church to wake up the world with the light of the Gospel.

“Come and See” (Jn 1:46). Communicating by Encountering People Where and as They Are.

 Since 1967, the Church has celebrated World Communications Day every year. It then became a tradition that the Holy Father addresses the faithful with a particular message.  This 55th World Social Communications Day theme is “Come and see. Communicating by Encountering People Where and as They Are”.

Pope Francis says that the foundation of all authentic human communication is encountering people as Jesus did. We must always put the human being at the centre of every communication. 

In his encyclical letter, Fratelli Tutti paragraph 1, the Holy Father talks about a love that transcends the barriers of geography and distance and the essence of a fraternal openness that allows us to acknowledge, appreciate and love each person, regardless of physical proximity, irrespective of where they were born or lives. Paragraph 191 highlights that “at the time when various forms of fundamentalist intolerance are damaging relationships between individuals, groups and peoples, let us be committed to living and teaching the value of respect for others,  a love capable of welcoming differences, and the priority of dignity of every human being over his or her ideas, opinions, practices and even sins.”

This is a call to have a strong appetite for the truth, especially in this internet era. Our attitude as catholic communicators must not be of easy liking, sharing and endorsing any story that reaches us. Ours is actively participating in social communications and going the extra mile to experience the truth. The complaisance of lazy participants makes us victims of gossip and editorialised news. The Holy Father refers to “hitting the street” as an approach every communicator must employ to meet people face-to-face to research stories or to verify certain situations first-hand.

 Philip employed the expression “Come and see” (Jn 1: 46) as an answer when Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” He said this after Philip had told him they had found the Messiah – Jesus of Nazareth. The conduct of Philip is inspirational. 

Many people find themselves arguing on social media. Instead, We must adopt Philip’s attitude to invite people to come and see where we source our faith.  

The dialogue between Philip and Nathanael expands to our daily lives. What do we do when asked, “Can anything good come from you, your company, your family, your community, your country? As Pope Francis said, Philip does not try to win Nathanael over with good reasons but simply tells him “, Come and see”. This is the simplest method to get to know a situation. It is the most honest test of every message because to know, we need to encounter and let the person in front of us speak, to let their testimony reach us.

 Successful communication must create an inviting result - a desire to see – a temptation to visit. This is a call for transparency and integrity that our story is a true reflection of what we have in our hearts and places so that the invited people may have a good experience of witnesses. Social communication is not successful because of the instruments used at a time. It is about the attitude we display outside and inside as we interact.  

Pope Francis says every tool has values and that the great communicator Paul of Tarsus would undoubtedly have used email and social messaging. Yet his faith, hope, and charity impressed those of his contemporaries who had heard him preach or spent time with him during an assembly or in individual conversation. Through his actions, wherever he was, they saw for themselves how faithful and fruitful the message he preached was. 

The Holy Father concludes his message with a prayer:

 Lord, teach us to move beyond ourselves and to set out in search of truth. 

Teach us to go out and see and listen, not entertain prejudices or draw hasty conclusions.

 Teach us to go where no one else will go, to take the time needed to understand, to pay attention to the essentials, not to be distracted by the superfluous, and to distinguish deceptive appearances from the truth.

 Grant us the grace to recognize your dwelling places in our world and the honesty to tell others what we have seen. Amen.