The themes highlighted by Pope Francis in his most recent encyclical Fratelli tutti resonates with my spirit.
I’ll be reading it over the next several days and posting on what I glean from it.
My angle on it is as a Midwest conservative evangelical Protestant Christian pastor, ordained with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, and employed as Director of Christian Emphasis with the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne, Indiana.
This blog has been an attempt to connect my reflections on Christ Jesus with the YMCA mission as a UB pastor.
The kingdom of God as proclaimed through Christ, drawing on the old prophets of Israel, envisions a world where God’s mercy and justice prevail amongst his people, for the world.
The church and the YMCA, for me, are powerful catalysts for this gospel work: flourishing in spirit, mind and body for all.
The context for this is our real world in a local and global context, affected powerfully by suffering and sorrow as well as seasons of celebrations.
What Fratelli tutti does for me, upon initial reading of summaries of it, is articulate in an accessible and compelling manner these themes that have been shaping my work through the UB Church and the YMCA: The gospel, for all.
But, Pope Francis digs deep into these two ideas, expounding on the parable of the Good Samaritan as a key clue to interpreting the way the gospel is for all, the effects of the teachings and life of Christ for how his people live in this world. His international context gives him a rich and unique perspective that I value and need.
In the circles with which I live and operate professionally and personally, in Fort Wayne, in the UB Church, in the YMCA – it seems to me that Pope Francis has given Christians a tool for which we can build up our ecumenical work, our multi-faith work, our church engagement with the community, our calling to live out our mission.
My current work as the Director of Christian Emphasis with the YMCA gives me opportunities to hear from many different kinds of Christians on how they would like to see the “C” get stronger in the Y.
There are lots of similar themes, but some clear disconnects.
Where they have common ground, though, needs to be further considered in light of the multi-faith context in which the YMCA operates.
I’m constantly looking for resources that can help YMCA leaders build a stronger “C” which also helps them build an even healthier spirit, mind body “for all.”
Fratelli tutti evokes the original spirit of the Young Men’s Christian Association, as well as the founding of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.
Togetherness, unity, brotherhood, solidarity, friendship, community, fraternal bonds – this is what the world needs now, more than ever through the people of God in imitation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I’ll be writing out reflections of ways forward, of critiques, of observations, of gratitude for the YMCA and UB Church, via my participation in them, as shaped by my cursory understanding of Fratelli tutti.
At least for me, it will strengthen the ground upon which I stand to do my ministry.
But more than that, I hope it attunes me to what the Spirit of Christ is doing around me in the Y and UB, that I might join in accordingly.
Here is a link to the Vatican’s publication of Fratelli tutti
Here is a commentary on it by William Cavanaugh, Catholic theologian I respect, author of Field Hospital: the church’s engagement with a wounded world.
Another commentary regarding it from perspective of how it shapes politics on the left – from Catholic theologian in Australia Stuart Braun
A series of brief remarks on Fratelli tutti from various Catholic thinkers.
A quick summary of the key points of each section in the encyclical
