Vatican II In A Year Day 61: LG 17: The Church as called to baptize all
12 snips
Mar 2, 2025 A reading and guided tour of Lumen Gentium paragraph 17 and the Church’s mission to baptize all nations. Short reflections on the Trinity’s roles and how Christ sends the community to evangelize. Discussion of ongoing missionary duty until Christ’s consummation. Practical notes on enculturation, who may baptize in emergencies, and laity sanctifying local culture.
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Church's Endless Mandate To Baptize All
- The Church received Christ's mandate to make disciples and baptize all nations and must continue this mission until the consummation of the world.
- Fr. Matthew links the economic Trinity (Son sent, Son sends us) to ongoing evangelization and the promise Christ remains with us to the end.
Keep Evangelizing Until Christ Returns
- Do not cease evangelizing; Christians must preach and prepare hearers to receive baptism until Christ's return.
- Fr. Matthew emphasizes personal duty by citing Paul: "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel," and baptism requires proper dispositions.
Enculturation Preserves And Perfects Good
- Cultures and existing religious practices contain goods the Church can cleanse and perfect rather than destroy.
- Lumen Gentium promotes enculturation: Paul in Athens is used as a model for starting from what people already revere.