The International Commission for Evangelization and Mission of the Order met at the Casa Generalizia in Rome from the 27th to the 29th April 2016. On the agenda for the meeting was the feedback from the Order regarding the booklet “To be a Carmelite today: A joy ever new, a joy to be shared”. It was distributed to the provinces, all members of the Carmelite Family via CITOC-online and on the Order’s website. It was noted that the booklet was used in many different parts of the world by different communities and evoked a positive response. The Commission is most grateful for the feedback. The second booklet entitled “Joy in being contemplative Community” is now available on our website https://s3.amazonaws.com/ocarm.org/ebooks/evaen.pdf

The intention of the commission is to engage with communities, groups belonging to the Carmelite Family and individuals so as to reflect on the relationship between the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, and the spiritual tradition of the Order. The third booklet for the year 2017 will have the theme “Joy in Proclaiming the Word.” It is hoped that these booklets, containing seven moments of reflection would be of value for community meetings of friars, nuns, affiliated sisters, Carmelite institutes, local chapters of Third Order groups and all connected with our spirituality and charism.

During the meeting, the commission was addressed by Mr. Jean Luc Moens (Emmanuel Community) on different approaches to evangelization. They also began initial preparations for a special international workshop on the Proclamation of the Gospel as outlined in chapter three of Evangelii Gaudium (110-175). Further details of this workshop will be communicated in the coming year.