EVANGELII GAUDIUM (15) - Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without excluding anyone

Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without excluding anyone.

Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet.

It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but “by attraction”.

John Paul II asked us to recognize that “there must be no lessening of the impetus to preach the Gospel” to those who are far from Christ, “because this is the first task of the Church”.

Indeed, “today missionary activity still represents the greatest challenge for the Church” and “the missionary task must remain foremost”.

What would happen if we were to take these words seriously?

We would realize that missionary outreach is paradigmatic for all the Church’s activity.

Along these lines the Latin American bishops stated that we “cannot passively and calmly wait in our church buildings”; we need to move “from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry”.

(http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium_en.html)