Catechetical Sunday: The Grace of our Mutual Presence in Christ: Encounter, Accompaniment, and Mission

The Grace of our Mutual Presence in Christ: Encounter, Accompaniment, and Mission by Dr. F. Javier Orozco, OFS, Executive Director, Human Dignity and Intercultural Affairs, Archdiocese of St. Louis

Dr. F. Javier Orozco reflects on how the Eucharist shapes a Christian life of encounter, accompaniment, and mission. Drawing on Scripture, Pope Francis, and Vatican II, he calls the Church to intentional relationship-building, communal walking, and missionary discipleship rooted in Christ’s presence.

This document ends with four reflective questions:

1. How can the Beatitudes help build a culture of encounter?
2. What does Emmaus teach about accompaniment and communion?
3. How does the Good Samaritan broaden our sense of mission?

4. How do encounter and accompaniment shape our missionary identity as a pilgrim Church?

   1. Eucharist as Gift and Identity

• Jesus’ words—“This is my body given for you”—invite believers to enter more deeply into the sacrificial love at the heart of the Eucharist.
• In the Spirit, Christians discern how to live out Christ’s self-giving in their relationships and communities.
• Christ’s presence guides believers toward mutual encounter, accompaniment, and mission.

2. Building a Culture of Encounter

• Inspired by Pope Francis, Orozco highlights the need for “a culture of encounter” that enlarges lives and affirms the truth that “we come from others and belong to others.”
• Modern society often promotes division, fear, and fragmentation; the Gospel calls Christians to cross boundaries of race, culture, and worldview.
• Jesus’ encounters—such as with the Syrophoenician woman—model openness, humility, and mutual enrichment.
• The Beatitudes offer a roadmap to deeper encounters grounded in gentleness, justice, mercy, and purity of heart.
• Encounter requires intentionality and sacrifice, seeing others not as enemies but as brothers and sisters.

3. Accompaniment and the Pilgrim Church

• Vatican II’s image of the Church as a “pilgrim people of God” shapes Christian identity.
• Walking with Christ and the saints provides direction, hope, and inspiration toward holiness.
• Faithful Christians orient their lives both toward the heavenly Church and the beauty of the earthly Church, especially in liturgy and sacraments.
• Like the Emmaus disciples, believers are called to real and intentional accompaniment—sharing stories, breaking bread, and letting their hearts “burn” with mission.
• Authentic accompaniment fosters inclusion, vulnerability, openness to the Spirit, and missionary zeal.

4. Mission Flowing from Communion

• At the Sunday Eucharist, believers see the joys and sufferings of the world as their own, echoing Gaudium et Spes.
• The Eucharist sends Christians forth like the Good Samaritan, embodying solidarity, compassion, and service for the common good (Fratelli Tutti).
• Fed by word and sacrament, disciples bring Christ’s story back into their homes and public life.
• “Nothing genuinely human” is outside the concern of a Eucharistic people.

USCCB-ART-ENG-fin-DOC-Orozco_1.pdf