Mission in the Year of Faith - Year of Faith - Lessons on Faith from the Holy Father

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Lessons on Faith Offered by Pope Francis

Pope Francis, at his General Audience on May 22, 2013, continued his weekly catechesis, guiding us and teaching us in this Year of Faith.

Pope Francis concentrated this week’s study, “We believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,” once more on the Holy Spirit, as facilitator in the Church’s mission to evangelize... as was the experience of Pentecost. The Holy Father explained that without the Holy Spirit, “the Church could not live or carry out the mission that Jesus has entrusted us with, of going out and making disciples of all nations. Evangelization is the Church’s mission, not just of a few, but my, your, our mission… To evangelize, then, it is necessary to open ourselves once again to the action of God’s Spirit, without fear of what He might ask us or where He might lead us.”

Pope Francis declared that unity and communion are the first important effects of the Holy Spirit. He demonstrated examples at Pentecost of the crowd coming “‘from every nation under heaven’ so that each might hear the Apostles’ words as if they were proclaimed in their own language,” and of overcoming the divisions of language confusion started at the Tower of Babel with “a new language, that of the love that the Holy Spirit ‘pours out into our hearts.’”

The Holy Father also emphasized the importance of courage in proclaiming the newness of the Gospel to all – out loud, in every time and place, and with every opportunity - and the element of prayer for the fire of the Holy Spirit: “Only a faithful and intense relationship with God allows us to go out of our own closures and announce the Gospel with ‘parrhesia’ (boldly).”

“And this happens even today for the Church and for each of us: from the fire of Pentecost, from the action of the Holy Spirit, ever new missionary energies are released, new ways in which to proclaim the message of salvation, new courage to evangelize. Never be closed to this action! May we live the Gospel with humility and courage! May we witness the novelty, the hope, the joy that the Lord brings to life. Let us feel within us “the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing” (Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation. Ap. Evangelii nuntiandi, 80). Because evangelizing, announcing Jesus, evangelizing brings us joy! It energizes us. Being closed up within ourselves brings bitterness. Proclaiming the joy and hope that the Lord brings to the world lifts us up!”

Questions for reflection taken directly from the Pope’s catechesis:

How am I letting myself be guided by the Holy Spirit so that my life and my witness to the faith might be of unity and communion?
Do I bring the message of reconciliation and love that is the Gospel to the places where I live?
What am I doing with my life?
Am I creating unity? Or am I dividing, with my gossip criticism and jealousies? What am I doing? Think about this.
How can I renew each day my trust in the Holy Spirit’s action? How can I be a person of prayer who witnesses to the Gospel with courage, becoming an instrument of God’s unity and communion in our world?
Who is the real engine of evangelization in our lives and in the Church? (The Holy Spirit)

On Wednesday, May 8 – the birthday of Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen – our National Director Father Andrew Small, OMI, in Rome to begin discussions with other National Directors about distributing support to the Missions, was blessed to meet our chief missionary, Pope Francis, during that General Audience!

FrAndrewPopeFrancis5-8-13