Sources of Inspiration in Understanding Missionary Spirituality in the Thought of John Paul II

Abstract

The concept of missionary spirituality falls within the mainstream of Christian spirituality. John Paul II understands it in the personalistic and Christological perspective. According to the Pope’s thought, the missionary spirituality is the fruit of the total submission to the Holy Spirit in the missionary’s aim to become permanently conformed to Christ. This attitude results from a deep union with the Holy Trinity in the experience of the Father through Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Imitating Christ, the preacher of the Gospel, is essential for an authentic missionary spirituality. Following the ideal of missionary spirituality leads to an authentic inculturation, love of the Church, shapes the proper spirit of prayer and missionary asceticism, dynamises apostolic commitment and lays the foundations for a true dialogue, inseparable from the missionary activity.