Called to Be Sent: Co-Missioned as Disciples Today

The gospel tells us to look into other people's eyes as we search for an image of God to help us work for healing justice amid the rubble and the memories that litter our lives, to rebuild a human world on the debris of broken dreams, and to commit ourselves--as God does--to restoring communities, so that there will be no more estrangement, no more strangers, and no more aliens. It is only a little less than impossible, and the only way we can do it is to learn to love the world as God already does. It's simply not possible to love in theory; we must go further than that. We must love in practice. We must practice in love. That is the disciple's call. Called to Be Sent develops and completes the theology of discipleship introduced in the author's previous books. This new volume focuses on sending forth, the phase that follows our radical encounter with humanity. Here we find the hope and strength to move from an understanding of mission to actually being commissioned by Jesus. In short, as Christians we are gathered for scattering and called to be sent, and this book provides much direction. Anthony J. Gittins, CSp, is professor of mission and culture at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Born in Manchester, England, he earned an MA and PhD from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was ordained a priest in 1967 and is an internationally recognized lecturer and retreat master. Father Gittins is the author of fifteen books, including two previous works on the theology of discipleship: Encountering Jesus: How People Come to Faith and Discover Discipleship and A Presence That Disturbs: A Call to Radical Discipleship.…