Understanding “shepherding in mercy”: A critical reflection of millennial’s experiences

• Main Author: Maravilla, Mylene Icamina
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Church work with Generation Y; Discipling (Christianity); Mercy—Religious aspects—Christianity; Arts and Humanities; Religion; Religious Education
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/13196
• Institution: De La Salle University

‘How to lead the millennials?’ is most likely the question and concern of parents, teachers and persons forming young people nowadays. Hampered with various developing cultures influenced by the advent of fast-paced technology, information over load and instant gratification, leading young people coined as “millennials” appear challenging. On the other hand, Pope Francis who has been constant from the first days of his pontificate in preaching God’s mercy and carrying out the image of the Good Shepherd birthed the term ‘Shepherding in Mercy’in Amoris Laetitia. This term though used only once and emerged towards the end of the apostolic exhortation The Joy of Love: On Love in the Family is significant and contributory to our knowledge and understanding on leadership particularly on how to lead the millennials. In all these, what doesshepherding in mercy mean? How does the Pope define ‘Shepherding in Mercy’? What isthe role of Shepherding in Mercy in the context ofthemillennials? Does Shepherding in Mercy imply a newperspective in leading themillennials? With this desire, the study provided a conceptual overview of the concepts using literature from scriptures, church documents and recent scholarship on the theme. Through the critical reflection of the theme, this paper contributed to a clarification of the Pope’s message and brought its meaning closer to the leaders of the Christianmillennial.