Welcome to the first issue of Christ is our Hope’s newsletter on Missionary Discipleship, which was inspired by Bishop R. Daniel Conlon’s pastoral letter on missionary discipleship, which you can read here.
This bi-weekly newsletter will share inspirational quotes on the topic of missionary discipleship in an effort to help readers understand more deeply this topic and to encourage all of us to follow Christ’s Great Commission to “go and make disciples.”
In the podcast above, click to hear Peter Newburn, the secretary of Christian Life for the Diocese of Joliet, talk about the significance of the Kerygma. It’s short, just slightly more than five minutes long.
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What is the Kerygma?
According to Saint John Paul II:
The initial ardent proclamation by which a person is one day overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus Christ by faith. … The vital core of the New Evangelization must be a clear and unequivocal proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ; that is, the preaching of His name, His teaching, His life, His promises and the Kingdom, which He has gained for us by His Paschal Mystery.
According to Pope Francis:
[The Kerygma] is the message capable of responding to the desire for the infinite which abides in every human heart. The centrality of the Kerygma calls for stressing those elements which are most needed today: it has to express God’s saving love which precedes any moral and religious obligation on our part; it should not impose the truth but appeal to freedom; it should be marked by joy, encouragement, liveliness and a harmonious balance which will not reduce preaching to a few doctrines which are at times more philosophical than evangelical. All this demands on the part of the evangelizer certain attitudes which foster openness to the message: approachability, readiness for dialogue, patience, a warmth and welcome which is non-judgmental.
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The following is according to Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the papal household:
[The Kerygma] is the first model of evangelization, and if we want to re-evangelize our secularized, modern world, this is how we must start: Jesus Christ in the center, Jesus Christ as Lord. This is, I repeat, the model of any evangelization. We must start by presenting to modern man the person of Jesus, or better still, by helping modern mankind to come into a personal relationship with Jesus. This is not a slogan taken from our Evangelical, Pentecostal brothers and sisters. This is a proof, a great reality.
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Some tips about the Kerygma by Marcel LeJeune, president and founder of Catholic Missionary Disciples:
We have to remember that our journey is going to be full of moments.
1 - Pre-evangelization = relationship building where we earn the right to proclaim the kerygma.
2 - Evangelization = the explicit proclamation of the kerygma, and invitation to respond, and the initial conversion of the one who is the subject of our evangelization.
3 - Discipleship = post-conversion following of Jesus. This includes catechesis, growth in prayer, maturity in virtue, and mission/service to others.
Some tips when proclaiming the Kerygma:
Avoid Churchy or “insider” language. You need not talk about any deep theology when you are presenting the basic kerygma. That should follow a conversion.
Pray before you start. If we want to be vessels of grace for others, we need to make sure we are examining our motives and being faithful and humble.
Don’t stop before inviting a response. Too often many Catholics think it is too “Protestant” a thing to do. Read the book of Acts and see how many times the Apostles invited a response. Hint - every time they preached!
Be ok with the awkwardness of the moment (especially the first few times). This isn’t supposed to be easy, because it could end up being the most important event in another person’s life!
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Prayer by Father Andrew Brookes, OP:
Lord Jesus, true God and man,
I come before you just as I am.
Thank you for loving me and dying and rising from the dead
to rescue and save me from evil
and give me new divine life.
I am sorry for my sins.
I repent of them.
Please forgive me.
Jesus, I give myself to you.
I accept you as my Lord, God, and Savior;
as the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Come into my heart, I ask, and make your home here.
Give me the grace to know and pray to God as my Father.
Change me, heal me, strengthen me by the power of your Holy Spirit.
I pledge myself to follow you for the rest of my life,
to seek out your grace in the Church you founded
and to share in its mission.
By your grace, sustain and guide me always,
Help me persevere unto death,
and so be welcomed by you into eternal happiness,
Amen.
The Importance of the Kerygma in Being a Missionary Disciple