“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” – Luke 4:18-19 CEB
Every year on Vocations Sunday at the Catholic parish I grew up attending a guest priest, almost always a missionary, would give the homily. One year in my early teens a missionary priest to Peru really caught my attention. In recent years I’ve observed a strong, generally new interest among evangelicals in a fuller approach to missions that involves really taking Good News to the poor. Although some of the evangelical organizations involved in this work have been around for a while, “social gospel” work was — for the most part — eschewed and left to the “liberal” mainline Protestants. The evangelicals were too busy saving souls to be bothered with the issues of poverty and inequality. Things are definitely changing (check out my review of The Whole in Our Gospel), but I can’t help feeling that evangelicals in general are a bit “johnny-come-lately” to this area. Better late than never, I guess.
One group (divided in three parts) from within the Roman Catholic Church that really exemplifies an emphasis on holistic mission is Maryknoll. Check out the inspiring video below for more on their work, at least with regard to the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
The fellowship of churches of which I am part has HOPE worldwide as an outreach organization seeking to minister to the poor. If you are part of a church family, how does your denomination approach this issue? Anything similar to Maryknoll, HOPE worldwide, Compassion International or World Vision?
See Also:
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
