Reading Francis

I only counted ten times that Pope Francis asks the readers to do something in apostolic exhortation. How hard could they be?

1) “I invite all Christians…to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day.” (3)

2) At the end of his outline of topics, he says “All of them help give shape to a definite style of evangelization which I ask you to adopt in every activity which you undertake. In this way, we can take up, amid our daily efforts, the biblical exhortation ‘Rejoice in The Lord always; again I will say: Rejoice.” (Phil. 4:4). (18)

3) “Each Christian and every community must discern the path that The Lord points out, but all of us our asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the ‘peripheries’ in need of light of the Gospel.” (20)

4) “I hope that all communities will devote the necessary effort to advancing the path of a pastoral and missionary conversion which cannot leave things as they presently are.” (25)

5) “I encourage each particular Church to undertake a resolute process of discernment, purification and reform.” (30)

6) “our church doors should always be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door.” (47)

7) “I exhort you to generous solidarity and to the return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favours human beings.” (58)

8) “imagine innovative spaces and possibilities for prayer and communion which are more attractive and meaningful for city dwellers. (73)

9) “Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society.” (187)

10) “I ask you to seek, as a community, creative ways of accepting this renewed call [for concern for the poor].” (201)

So a daily personal encounter with Christ, in everything we do, outside our comfort zone, dedicated to disrupting the status quo, focused on institutional reform, always open to seekers, engaging a human-centered approach to economics, engaging city dwellers, radically for the poor and with the poor. No big whoop.