Originally published at National Catholic Register
‘A priest, a missionary in God’s grace, is capable of leaving his usual comfort zone and giving his life for Jesus Christ…’
Going out to find and recover Catholics not living according to their baptism is one of the great challenges of pastoral work, along with the evangelization of those who do not know Christ, said the bishop of Cúcuta, Colombia, José Libardo Garcés.
In a column published in the newspaper La Verdad (“The Truth”), the prelate recalled that Jesus has entrusted his disciples with taking the good news to the ends of the earth, a call that “must move us all to develop creativity to reach the different sectors of the parish.”
This involves covering the three areas of parish pastoral care that, as Pope Francis explains in Evangelii Gaudium, consist of “igniting the hearts of the faithful who regularly frequent the community,” going to “baptized persons who aren’t living the demands of baptism, who don’t have a warm relationship with the Church, and no longer experience the consolation of faith,” and evangelizing “those who do not know Jesus Christ or have always rejected him.”
Bishop Garcés pointed out that although in the diocese they have worked hard
