Reflecting on the life and witness of Dan Berrigan, the Jesuit priest and co-founder of the anti-war Plowshares Movement who passed away in 2016, actor and fellow peace activist Martin Sheen had this to say: “He took the Gospel personally.” As a guest on a recent episode of The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast, Sheen, a lifelong Catholic, expanded on this idea. “If we don’t take the Gospel personally, then it’s impersonal,” he said. “And if it's impersonal, then so what?”
As people dedicated to recognizing, encountering and responding to Christ’s presence at the global, social and economic margins, USCMA members know what it means to take the Gospel personally. The challenge comes in trying to communicate this message to others. Today, words like “missionary disciple,” “evangelization” and “solidarity” can often sound more like buzzwords, especially when disconnected from the lived experiences of mutuality, dialogue and kinship at the heart of Christ’s Incarnation. Authentic missionary discipleship, as the late missiologist Tony Gittins, CSSp, points out, is a lifelong process of encounter with Christ, disruption by the Spirit and commissioning into deeper encounter through mission—particularly mission which crosses borders and upends exclusionary boundaries.
As we enter this Jubilee Year of Hope, I am conscious that the pillars of USCMA’s own charism—to promote, support and encourage participation in mission through networking, formation and advocacy—also continue to be more than buzzwords, and instead persist in vital and authentic service to mission and you, our members. Currently, USCMA is forming member working groups to develop formation opportunities in contemporary mission theology and forward-looking mission and organizational practices, assembling an Advocacy Committee to seek partnership and strengthen impact in areas which affect our members and those you serve, and working to revamp our website as a hub for member collaboration and mission engagement.
If you have an interest or feel a calling to contribute to any of these efforts, please contact me. In the meantime, please enjoy the important programming updates, opportunities to connect and grow, and insightful commentaries featured in this issue of ENCOUNTER.