Mission of the Angelus Prayer Mission

By virtue of their baptism, all the Members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization… The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love.
(Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium of the Holy Father Francis, 2013.)

The Original Mission
The original vision for the Anawim was the promise of  Jesus in Matthew 5:3
‘How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven’.  
Fr. Doyle used this as his foundational text in defining the mission and his desire to form a support network to bring the Kingdom of God to the Anawim.  The experience of Kingdom was to be found in the prayer mission and as the members duplicated the process and formed small groups they could build kingdom relationships. This was recognized as the first building block of the outreach and evangelization activity.

Growing the Mission
Angelus Intercessory Prayer Groups were formed in different parishes as many participants were filled with joy and wanted to share their experience.  In 1996 the leaders of the scattered ministry and groups met to formalize the process of formal recognition for the group.  Central to the Vision and Mission of the Angelus is Jesus’ words quoted from Isaiah’s scroll in the synagogue at Nazareth.

The spirit of the Lord is on me,
and He has anointed me to bring the good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives,
sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord….
This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.
(Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:18-22)

This scripture was to become one of the primary Prayer texts for the Prayer Mission and Outreach for the Association.  The invitation is to each person to come to Jesus for liberty, new sight, freedom and favour.  The Angelus Prayer Card features a process that combines three separate forms of prayer that interact with this foundational scriptural text.
1. To be filled with God’s Love and spirit by resting in the heart of God the Father. (Contemplative Prayer).
2. To invite the gifts of Jesus’ healing spirit to minister to us.  (Inner Healing Prayers)
3. To give thanks for God’s healing and offer to pray for others to be blessed. (Intercessory Prayer).

Towards 2020 with an emerging vision of Outreach for the Angelus:
The Angelus statutes state that each member is called and according to their state of life and their means to commit themselves and their yes to the mystery of the Annunciation and the understanding of Mary’s “fiat” or “yes” to God.  The Angelus Members can participate in the prayer mission and outreach of the Association in any of the following ways:

Prayer Mission of the Association

• Living a life of prayer that incorporates the Angelus Way of Prayer
• Establishing a network of intercessory prayer cells that pray in the Angelus way. 
• Undertake the spiritual and theological formation of Members through the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Anawim Outreach ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen’

• Participation in the apostolic mission of the Church within their own family, community, workplace or parish.

Each of the outreach activities finds its home in the scriptures in Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke 4:18-22.

Each day the Angelus members, supporters or associates continues the commitment to fulfil the outreach to

Bring the good news to the poor,
Proclaim liberty to captives,
Sight to the blind,
To let the oppressed go free,
To proclaim a year of favour

• The Good News is maintaining the objectives and structure of the not-for-profit sector as a charity organisation by implementing sound governance, education opportunities and funding opportunities that respond to the needs of the Association and the wider community.  Fundamental to our outreach  is to work with Church, government and associated agencies to achieve short or long term  housing assistance to those in need.
• Liberty includes working towards meeting some of the needs of people with complex problems that are often alienated by their community and find themselves displaced. 
• New awareness or sight includes looking for the signs of abuse within our communities and implementing an ‘Alert System’ that facilitates early intervention.
• Freedom for people comes with ability identify and access the resources necessary to sustain assistance from the appropriate departments or services that can help them in their need.
• We support existing or initiate new programs that will provide a comprehensive range of basic maintenance and support services for people who may be frail aged, have a disability, or come from different religious, cultural and linguist backgrounds.  These programs are intended to empower people so they can live in communities that promote unity and harmony. Our aim is to provide a standard code of conduct for programs, ministries and services that promote justice, confidentiality and respect for all parties.