TO EVANGELIZE IS TO ENTER INTO COMMUNION WITH CHRIST

VATICAN CITY, MAR 22, 2006 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 35,000 faithful, Benedict XVI continued the catechesis he began last week on the calling and the mission of the Apostles.

  "St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians," said the Pope, "presents the Church as a structure 'built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.' ... The Gospels all agree in recounting that the call of the Apostles marked the first steps of Jesus' ministry."

  The Holy Father went on to consider this call in the various gospel accounts. St. Mark and St. Matthew place the scene at the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus called the fishermen Simon, Andrew, James and John to be "fishers of men." For his part, St. Luke dwells on the miraculous catch of fish, "a symbol of their mission as fishers of men. The destiny of those 'called' will, from now on, be intimately linked to that of Jesus. The Apostle is an envoy, but prior to that he is an 'expert' on Jesus."

  For St. John, the meeting took place on the banks of the River Jordan and "and throws light on [the Apostles'] spiritual world. They were men awaiting the Kingdom of God, anxious to know the Messiah Whose coming had been announced as imminent. And John the Baptist's identification of Jesus as the Lamb of God was sufficient to arouse in them the desire for a personal meeting with the Master."

  "Thus the Apostles' adventure began as an encounter between people who opened to one another," said Benedict XVI. "The disciples began to have a direct knowledge of the Master. Indeed, more than proclaiming an idea, they will be witnesses to the person of Christ. And before being sent to evangelize, they will have to 'be' with Jesus, establishing a personal relationship with Him. On this basis, evangelization will be nothing other than the announcement of what they experienced and an invitation to enter into the mystery of communion with Christ."

  Although Christ appears to limit the Apostles' mission to Israel alone when He says "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," in reality, the Pope explained, these words must be seen in the context of Israel as a "community of the covenant. According to messianic expectation, the divine promises will be fulfilled when God Himself, through His Chosen One, gathers His people together, like a shepherd his flock."

  "Jesus is the eschatological shepherd Who gathers the lost sheep of the house of Israel and goes out to seek them, because He knows and loves them. By this 'gathering,' the Kingdom of God is announced to all people." After Jesus' passion and resurrection, the Pope concluded, "the universal nature of the Apostles' mission became explicit. Christ will send the Apostles 'into all the world,' to 'all nations,' and 'to the end of the earth'."
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