Pastoral Theology and the Little Goodness: Rejoice and Be Glad with the Voice of Song

Abstract

precis:

The essay aims to develop the nature of pastoral theology through orienting the Christian life of faith through a Jewish sense of otherness as the little goodness. In particular, together Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad), and Emmanuel Levinas’s ethical metaphysics will be a significant inspiration. Perseverance through adversity in the hope of joy and gladness is both a Jewish and a Christian biblical theme giving light to the mysteries and practice of faith. There is much to reflect about holiness and the mystery of God that Christians can learn from Jewish experience, thought, and writings. In pursuit of care for others, God’s presence in the Other reveals an invincible little goodness evidencing a paschal and maternal character. Here, in the unity of prayer and responsibility, the voice and song of a Good Shepherd comes to mind, with stories of faith that impart hope for a little goodness to stir and bless life with joy and gladness from the heart.