Click to join the conversation with over 500,000 Pentecostal believers and scholars
| PentecostalTheology.com
book reviews
475
James H. Kroeger, ed.
The Gift of Mission: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: Maryknoll Centennial Symposium
(Maryknoll, ny: Orbis Books, 2013). xii + 268 pp. $48.00 paperback.
In 1911, at the instigation of a Boston Priest, Fr. James Anthony Walsh, the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll Society) was estab- lished. Originally made up of priests and brothers, the Maryknoll family quickly grew to include sisters and lay missioners as well. In October of 2011, as part of the celebration of the centennial of Maryknoll, a symposium was held in conjunction with Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Presenters included academics, missionaries, bishops, priests, sisters and laity. This collection of presentations from that symposium was edited by Rev. James H. Kroeger, m.m., professor of mission theology at Loyola School of Theology and the East Asian Pastoral Institute in Manila. While some of the presentations included an his- torical focus, the majority focus on the theology and practice of mission today and in the future. While, there is much in these essays for those with spe- cific interests in the charism and witness of Maryknoll, anyone interested in the theology and practice of mission will find these reflections informative and illuminative. Almost all of the presenters are Catholic and the focus is primarily (but not exclusively) on Catholic missions, but Protestant missiol- ogists will find much of interest here as well. As a whole, the essays reflect a mature and wholistic theology of mission that has outgrown the supposed con- flicts between proclamation, dialogue and social activism that plagued some post-Vatican ii missiology. The essays are divided into four thematic sections followed by a fifth section containing some concluding reflections (including brief comments from pioneering liberation theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez.)
The first collection of essays reflects on the diverse contributions and per- spectives of Maryknoll sisters, brothers and lay missioners. This section also includes one of the best essays of the collection. Robert Schreiter describes the history of Catholic missions within the context of the history of globalization from the discovery of the new world to the present. After this short historical survey, he concludes with reflections on the future of missions in the modern global village. He suggests that the mission “ad gentes” to “other peoples and places” in today’s interconnected world might be re-envisioned as a mission “ad extra” a going “out of ourselves” by sharing in the mission of the Spirit; a mission “ad altera” a reaching out to “other” cultures and peoples in our own environ- ment; a mission “in altum” into the “depths” of the Trinitarian God’s activity within the world; or a mission “ad vulnera” reaching out to the “wounds” of our world where we encounter the wounded Christ.
The second collection of essays focuses on missions in different regions of the world with brief but informative essays on Africa, Asia, Latin America,
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014 | doi: 10.1163/15700747-03603021
1
476
book reviews
the Muslim world, and the Communist world. This section also includes an essay on missions to migrants by Daniel Groody who considers ministry to migrants in the context of a theology of the incarnation as the immigration of the divine to humanity. The third section concentrates on pivotal issues in mis- sions. Roger Schroeder helpfully explains the interrelationship of proclamation and dialogue by placing both within a broader concept of mission as prophetic dialogue. Other essays in this section relate missions to peace making, care for creation, the role of women, and the impact of the global economy. An essay by Michael Kirwen speaks of the dangers of missionaries who “parachute” and “crash land” in an alien culture. Kirwen highlights the work of the Maryknoll Institute of African Studies which developed a tool for improved cultural train- ing that identifies universal foundational themes and critical life events that provide the framework for learning any new culture.
The fourth collection of essays considers the missionary role of the Catholic Church in the United States. This section begins with a theological reflection from Francis Cardinal George who describes mission as receiving and sharing the gift of Christ. He roots this theology of gift in the communion ecclesiology of Vatican ii as interpreted and developed by popes Paul vi, John Paul ii and Benedict xvi. Ana Maria Pineda reflects on the growing Hispanic presence in the United States and suggests that these Catholic Hispanics are not the mission field but they are the evangelizers bringing new vitality to the Catholic Church in this country. Kevin Hanlon focuses on the origins of Maryknoll and finds inspiration in the Eucharistic and paschal spirituality that motivated its founder Fr. Walsh. He relates this to a theology of mission as “invitation to the banquet.”
This theme is picked up again in one of the concluding essays in the final sec- tion of the book, co-written by the editor and other Maryknoll priests. Based on the spirituality of Maryknoll and the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, they propose the following definition of mission: “promoting a full and con- scious participation in this Paschal Mystery, which the Holy Spirit has already begun in cultures not yet touched by the gospel.” (236) Missiologists and mis- sionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, will find much fruit for reflection in these essays. Readers of Pneuma will no doubt notice the one lacuna in this otherwise helpful collection—there is little systematic reflection on the one whom John Paul ii described as the principal agent of mission—the Holy Spirit.
John Gresham
Academic Dean & Professor of Systematic Theology, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri
PNEUMA 36 (2014) 457–512
2
