Mission of the Church

SUMMARY
This study traces some lines of theological-biblical and pastoral reflection on the ecclesial «ministry» of the Christian family, founded on the sacrament of the marriage. A Christian family becomes a «domestic Church» to the extent that the spouses, through their total, faithful, indissoluble and fruitful love, participate in Christ’s love and make it visible to their children, to the Christian community and also to those who no longer understand the «language» of the Church.

SOMMARIO
Il presente studio traccia alcune linee di riflessione teologico-biblica e pastorale sul «ministero» ecclesiale della famiglia cristiana, fondata sul sacramento del matrimonio. Una famiglia cristiana diventa una «Chiesa domestica» nella misura in cui gli sposi, con il loro amore totale, fedele, indissolubile e fecondo, prendono parte a quello di Cristo e lo rendono visibile ai figli, alla comunità cristiana e anche a coloro che non comprendono più la «lingua» della Chiesa.

In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium published in 2013, Pope Francis encourages all Christian communities toward missionary transformation. The transformation should lead to a genuine awareness and restoration of the missionary nature of the contemporary Church. The papal document has been quoted and commented on a number of times since its publication, as it bears enormous potential for transformation of the Catholic Church and for the mission of all Christians. The article presents an analysis of the four principles proposed by Evangelii gaudium in a section that focuses on the common good and social peace of humankind. The article acknowledges these principles as the axes of hypothesis that deals with reform of the Catholic Church as much as they contain important implications for a Christian theology of Revelation, for a theology of the act of faith and for a basic reflection on the structure of ecclesiastical communities. These elements are accepted as both an intrinsic condition and practical contribution for the Church's missionary transformation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major changes in all areas of life, including the life of the church. It has caused the church to live in a new normal, challenging the church's ability and perspective on how to carry out its mission. This article explores the mission of the church in the new normal. It provides consideration of health protocols, the use of technology, spirituality, and the church's attitudes and actions toward the issues that are part of the new normal.

Social engagement and especially solidarity are not a byproduct or a secondary aspect of the Christian identity. On the contrary, they are a way of life which manifests in the history the expectation of the Kingdom. Praxis rooted in love is the way of this manifestation.

Discrimination is one of the most challenging issues that we are faced with in the world today. It impairs human dignity and dehumanizes individuals and particular group of people, violating the order of God’s creation. It has and continues to be a critical issue and a serious challenge for Christian churches today. This thesis aims to link the theme of the liberation for the Burakumin who are the discriminated and marginalized people in Japanese society over a period of years, with the liberating message of the Gospel, and the ecumenical commitment towards the issue of discrimination. The Burakumin are not really known in the world outside Japan. An attempt is made to highlight their discriminatory situation and their struggle for liberation. An attempt has also been made to study the Buraku liberation theology as one of the contextualized liberation theology and highlights its relevance and contribution towards the struggle against the discrimination in Japanese society and also the world at large. Then, as an example of the ecumenical biblical interpretation for the liberation of the marginalized people, it attempts has been made to interpret and re-read the biblical text about the story of the resurrection in John 20:11-18 from the perspective of the Burakumin. Through a Buraku liberation reading, it is hoped that the possibility of interpreting the resurrection of Jesus as the liberating experience for the discriminated and marginalized people can be highlighted with the re-reading and presentation of the resurrected Jesus in the similitude of the discriminated and the marginalized, appearing before the discriminated and marginalized in the society.

The famous theologian Karl Barth once said, "We should carry the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand". This will help us, on the one hand, to understand what challenges our community is going through, and, on the other, to consider how the Word of God might help the church relate to the challenges. However we as evangelicals have often failed to carry this through; instead we have carried the Bible with both hands. We are well acquainted with Scripture, but are strangers to our people, community, and country. As a result, our message is often seen as irrelevant, and we are unable to give answers to the questions and needs of the people. With respect to the current needs of society, the events of the last Israeli election, in my opinion, are a wake-up call to the church, a challenge to find ways to be more effective in its mission.

Автор аналізує документ «Природа і місія Церкви» Комісії «Віра і церковний устрій» Всесвітньої Ради Церков. Він це робить через призму еклезіологічної думки Андрея (Шептицького), Йосифа (Сліпого), Мирослава Івана (Любачівського). Також наголошує, що для греко-католицького богослова документ цікавий з огляду на глибоко біблійний спосіб вираження сутності Церкви, а також через те, що «Природа і місія Церкви» вказує на відмінності між богословськими поясненнями Церков деяких правд щодо самих себе.

The author analyzes the document «The Nature and Mission of the Church» of the Commission «Faith and Church System» of the World Council of Churches. He does this through the prism of the ecclesiological thought of Andrei (Sheptytsky), Joseph (Slipy), Myroslav Ivan (Lubachivsky). The author also emphasizes that this document is interesting for the Greek-Catholic theologian, since it gives an understanding of the deep biblical way of expressing the essence of the Church, and also because «Nature and Mission of the Church» points to the differences between the theological explanations of the Churches of some truths concerning themselves.