Toward a New, Praxis-Oriented Missiology - (American Society of Missiology Monograph) by Rosalia Meza (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The new and different frontiers and factors discussed in missiology are reshaping the meaning of mission. Christian mission today is searching for new directions to approach the postmodern, postcolonial, and ecumenical paradigms. This book argues that mission is the process of embodying the content and praxis of the gospel, not the transmission of knowledge that keeps an established structure and culture alive (often justified by a specific ecclesiological model). Thus, mission initiates a transformative process of faith, which leads to personal and social transformation. This work brings into dialogue Stephen Bevans's notion of mission as prophetic dialogue and Paulo Freire's concept of conscientizacao. The aim is not to discover a method to do mission but to rescue the process that leads to transformation, allowing one to encounter the other where they are while respecting the uniqueness of every person, culture, church, and society. Prophetic dialogue enriched by conscientizacao (and vice versa) can open new perspectives within missiology and provide a new approach to mission praxis. This approach is then analyzed through the experiential and transformative elements of the Verbum Dei charism applied in ministry, demonstrating the effectiveness of prophetic dialogue and conscientizacao in the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity mission praxis.

Review Quotes

"I am deeply honored that Rosalia Meza has studied my work on prophetic dialogue so thoroughly, so appreciatively, and so accurately; and I am honored as well to be paired in this important study with the work of the great Paulo Freire. Understanding mission as prophetic dialogue captures well the dynamic of speaking of and incarnating our participation in God's work for the life of the entire created world. Understanding mission as helping raise people's consciousness of their own power is how prophetic dialogue works in practice. Rosalia Meza has helped us all in deepening our appreciation of these truths in a clear, convincing, and creative way."

--Stephen Bevans, SVD, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago

"In his 2013 exhortation Gaudium Evangelii, Pope Francis insisted that preachers change their ways to present the joyful message of Christianity to the world. Meza's exhaustive research responds to that challenge by exploring the pedagogy of Paulo Freire and the prophetic dialogue espoused by Stephen Bevans that together involve a missiology of contextual theology. Her work is not a listing of methods but an appeal to develop a process that aims at a practice of faith-nourishing liberation spirituality."

--Denis E. Collins, SJ, University of San Francisco

About the Author

Rosalia Meza, VDMF, is a religious sister of the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity and is currently Provincial Superior of Verbum Dei's US Province. She is also serving as Senior Director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Rosalia holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California.