2017 USCCB Convocation Participants Guidebook and Journal | Page 9

Key Questions to Be Considered
Key Questions to Be Considered
The Convocation of Catholic Leaders follows the sequence of
topics treated by Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium. Beginning
with the celebration of the Eucharist and a focus on unity in
the joy of the Gospel, the Convocation will respond to four
major questions:
1. What is the nature of this current historical moment in the
Church and in our nation?
For the first plenary session and the brea kout sessions that
follow, participants will look at various studies of the land-
scape to help answer this question. More than just a sociolog-
ical analysis, this part of the Convocation will strive to engage
in what Pope Francis calls an “evangelical discernment.” 5
2. How do we respond to this moment as missionary
disciples?
The Convocation will look at Pope Francis’s encouragement
to all people of faith to take up a radical call to a “missionary
option” to “pastoral ministry in a missionary key,” rather than
just “church work” or maintenance. 6 The Convocation will be
an opportunity for a renewal of that call.
3. Where are we called to go? To whom are we being sent on
this mission?
The Convocation will explore the mission field and the
peripheries in our local communities, across the country, and
within the Church. Presentations will ask: What more can we
do here? This will include an unpacking of the “social dimen-
sion of evangelization” and taking the time, as Pope Francis
has encouraged us, to discern the Lord’s call “to go forth from
our own comfort zone in order to reach all the ‘peripheries’
in need of the light of the Gospel.” 7 The Convocation will be a
time to work and to witness to the Gospel in and through our
engagement with the world.
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