The apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) was published by Pope Francis on November 24, 2013, on the occasion of the closing of the Year of Faith and the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, during the first year of his pontificate. It was the result of the 2012 Synod of Bishops convened by Pope Benedict XVI on “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” The document expresses some of the principal pastoral concerns of our time and seeks to promote a new stage of evangelization marked by the joy that comes from the personal conviction of an encounter with God. This encounter invites us to active and permanent participation in the Church’s missionary pastoral work today, since Christ is the eternal Gospel (Rev 14:6), and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8).

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

On August 8, the Missionary Servants of the Word community celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of the Magnificat at the "Cristo del Desierto" lay formation house in California, in an atmosphere of fraternity, prayer, and missionary communion.

Normally, we associate the concept of mission with the image of priests or religious sisters working with the most needy in Africa. We imagine Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta dedicating herself to the poorest in India. However, that is only one part of missionary activity and does not encompass the whole reality. Mission is the continuation of the saving presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit, which is carried out through the whole Church—that is, everyone who has been baptized: clergy, consecrated, and laity.

Prayer is the expression of a divine invocation — it means to ask, bless, give thanks, adore, invoke, and plead. In the Old Testament, the people of Israel faced the widespread belief in many gods. But once the covenant was made between God and His people (Ex 24:8-9), the Lord presented Himself to His chosen people as the one true God, and by His very nature, revealed His existence. He presented Himself as a personal God — and being personal, He made dialogue possible. It is here that the foundation of prayer is born.

We are living in the midst of a social media epidemic. Teens and young adults between the ages of 13 and 25 spend an average of 7 to 9 hours a day on their screens, often disconnected from meaningful relationships, truth, and purpose. According to the CDC, rates of depression among teens have more than doubled in the past decade, and suicide has become the second leading cause of death for those aged 10 to 24. This isn’t just a crisis of mental health, it’s a crisis of meaning. But amidst the chaos, confusion, and constant noise of modern life, there is hope. Something unexpected is happening: Young people are turning back to tradition.

I resembled a green sprout sprouting within my mother's womb after conception. I was full of vitality and life. I fed through your blood mama, inside that sac within you in which I called home. I could hear the beats of your heart that we once shared together. I could hear everything around you, which made me want to jump with Glee.

“He has put fire and water before you; you can stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.” (Sirach 15:16). With this, it speaks to us about personal responsibility that is inseparably linked to freedom. If our choice leans toward the absence of good, the human being loses their freedom and becomes enslaved by sin, which in turn hinders their growth in goodness and, above all, in truth.