2017 USCCB Convocation Participants Guidebook and Journal | Page 27

The Call to Missionary Discipleship
beginning or end of life are markedly vulnerable today. Migrants
and people on the move also occupy a periphery as persons
caught between two worlds. Persons with disabilities or special
needs are increasingly vulnerable as our society focuses more and
more on independence and autonomy. Persons caught in sex traf-
ficking or cycles of continual violence who need freedom, as well
as persons who have been adversely affected by climate change,
occupy still other peripheries today. There are many people
caught on the margins of society for the Church to seek out; these
are just a few examples.
In preparation for the Convocation, reflect on your own minis-
try or apostolate, and ask, Where are some of the peripheries the
Lord may be calling you and your community to seek out? Who
are the forgotten in your neighborhood, your city? Who are the
people on the edge of your vision that need greater attention?
At the Convocation, there will be several opportunities for dele-
gates to focus more on those in the peripheries and the Church’s
response. A plenary session on the morning of Monday, July 3,
will give a general outlook on the social dimension of evangeliza-
tion—and reaching out to the margins of our society and cul-
ture. Following the large group gathering, twenty-two breakout
sessions will allow participants to go even deeper into particular
periphery areas:
• Understanding the Transition from Youth to Young
Adulthood: A Growing Periphery
• An Encuentro/Encounter with Hispanic & Latino
Catholics: A Periphery in Our Midst
• Living in the Margins in Our Country and in the World:
A Church for the Poor That Is Poor
• The Marginalization of Motherhood: A Growing Periphery
• Reaching Wounded Families: Those Struggling with
Brokenness
• The Feminine Genius: The Role of Women in the Church
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