Vatican
City, 18 June 2013
(VIS) – “I'm Not Ashamed of the Gospel” was the theme of Pope
Francis' catechesis given yesterday afternoon in the Paul VI Hall for the
inauguration of the Ecclesial Congress (17-19 June) that concludes
the Diocese of Rome's pastoral year. The theme of the pastoral year
was: “Christ, We Need You! The Responsibility of the Baptized in
Proclaiming Jesus Christ.”
The
meeting began with Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of the
Diocese, greeting the Bishop of Rome. His address followed the
Reading of the First Letter of St. Paul to the Romans, which contains
the phrases that inspired the Pope's catechesis: “For I am not
ashamed of the Gospel. … We who were baptized … are not under the
law but under grace.” Following are ample excerpts from Pope
Francis' prepared address with some of the impromptu comments he
added.
“A
revolution, in order to transform history, must profoundly change
human hearts. Revolutions that have taken place throughout the
centuries have changed political and economic systems, but non of
them have truly changed the human heart. Only Jesus Christ
accomplished the true revolution, the one that radically transforms
life, with his Resurrection that, as Benedict XVI loves to recall,
was 'the greatest “mutation” in the history of humanity' and it
gave birth to a new world.”
“This
is the experience that the Apostle Paul lives. After having met Jesus
on the way to Damascus, he radically changes his perspective on life
and receives Baptism. God transforms his heart. Before he was a
violent persecutor of Christians, now he becomes an Apostle, a
courageous witness of Jesus Christ. … With Baptism, the paschal
sacrament, we to are made to participate in that same change and,
like Paul, 'we too might live in newness of life'. … We are led to
believe that it is primarily in changing structures that we can build
a new world. Faith tells us that only a new heart, one regenerated by
God, can create a new world: a heart 'of flesh' that loves, suffers,
and rejoices with others; a heart full of tenderness for those who,
bearing the wounds of their lives, feel themselves to be on the
outskirts of society. Love is the greatest force for transforming
reality because it breaks down the walls of selfishness and fills the
chasms that keep us apart from one another.”
“Even
in Rome there are people who live without hope and who are immersed
in deep sadness that they try to get out of, believing to have found
happiness in alcohol, in drugs, in gambling, in the power of money,
in sex without rules. But they find themselves still more dejected
and sometimes vent their anger towards life with violent acts that
are unworthy of the human person. … We who have discovered the joy
of having God for our Father and his love for us, can we stand idly
by in front of our brothers and sisters and not proclaim the Gospel
to them? We who have found in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again,
the meaning of life, can we be indifferent towards this city that
asks us, perhaps even unconsciously, for hope? … We are Christians;
we are disciples of Jesus not to be wrapped up in ourselves but to
open ourselves to others in order to help them, in order to bring
them to Christ and to protect every creature.”
“St.
Paul is aware that Jesus—as his name signifies—is the Saviour of
all humanity, not just of persons of a certain age or geographical
area. The Gospel is for all because God loves everyone and wants to
save everyone. The proclamation of the Gospel is destined primarily
to the poor, to those who often lack the essentials for a decent
life. The good news is first announced to them, that God loves them
before all others and comes to visit them through the acts of charity
that the disciples of Christ carry out in his name. Others think that
Jesus' message is destined to those who don't have cultural training
and who therefore find in faith the answer to the many 'whys' that
are present in their hearts. Instead, the Apostle strongly affirms
that the Gospel is for everyone, even experts. The wisdom that comes
from Revelation is not opposed to human wisdom, but rather purifies
and elevates it. The Church has always been present in the places
where culture develops.”
The
Pope then improvised: “The Gospel is for all! Going out toward the
poor doesn't mean that we must become paupers or some sort of
'spiritual bums'! No, that's not what it means! It means that we must
go towards the flesh of the suffering Jesus but Jesus' flesh also
suffers in those who don't know it, with their studies, their
intelligence, their culture. We must go there! That's why I like to
use the expression 'go to the outskirts', the existential
peripheries. Everyone, all of them, [who suffer] from physical and
real poverty to intellectual poverty, which is also real. All the
outskirts, all the intersections of paths: go there. And there sow
the seed of the Gospel by word and by witness.”
“This
means that we must have courage. … I want to tell you something. In
the Gospel there's that beautiful passage that tells us of the
shepherd who, on returning to the sheepfold and realizing that a
sheep is missing, leaves the 99 and goes to look for it, to look for
the one. But, brothers and sisters, we have one. It's the 99 who
we're missing! We have to go out, we must go to them! In this
culture—let's face it—we only have one. We are the minority. And
do we feel the fervour, the apostolic zeal to go out and find the
other 99? This is a big responsibility and we must ask the Lord for
the grace of generosity and the courage and the patience to go out,
to go out and proclaim the Gospel.”
“Sustained
by this certainty that comes from Revelation, we have the courage,
the confidence, to go out of ourselves, to go out of our communities,
to go where men and women live, work, and suffer, and to proclaim the
Father's mercy to them, which was made known to humanity in Jesus of
Nazareth. … Let us always remember, however, that the Adversary
wants to keep us separated from God and therefore instils
disappointment in our hearts when we do not see our apostolic
commitment immediately rewarded. Every day the devil sows the seeds
of pessimism and bitterness in our hearts. … Let us open ourselves
to the breath of the Holy Spirit, who never ceases to sow seeds of
hope and confidence. Don't forget that God is the strongest and that
if we allow him into our lives nothing and no one can oppose his
action. So let's not be overcome by the discouragement that we
encounter in facing difficulties when we talk of Jesus and the
Gospel. Let's not think that faith doesn't have a future in our
city!”
“St.
Paul then adds: 'I am not ashamed of the Gospel'. For him, the Gospel
is the proclamation of Jesus' death on the cross. … The cross
forcefully reminds us that we are sinners, but above all that we are
love, that we are so dear to God's heart that, to save us, He didn't
hesitate to sacrifice his Son Jesus. The Christian's only boast is
knowing that they are loved by God. … Every person needs to feel
themself loved the way they are because this is the only thing that
makes life beautiful and worthy of being lived. In our time, when
[what is freely given] seems to fade in our interpersonal
relationships, we Christians proclaim a God who, to be our friend,
asks nothing but to be accepted. Think of how many live in
desperation because they have never met someone who has shown them
attention, comforted them, made them feel precious and important. We,
the disciples of Christ, can we refuse to go to those places that no
one wants to go out of fear of compromising ourselves or the
judgement of others, and thus deny our brothers and sisters the
announcement of God's mercy?”
Speaking
off the cuff again, the Pope added: “Freely given! We have received
this gratuity, this grace, freely. We must give it freely. And this
is what, in the end, I want to tell you … Don't be afraid of love,
of the love of God our Father. … Don't be afraid to receive the
grace of Jesus Christ. Don't be afraid of our freedom that is given
by the grace of Jesus Christ, or, as Paul said: 'You are not under
the law but under grace'. Don't be afraid of grace. Don't be afraid
to go out of yourselves … to go and find the 99 who aren't home. Go
out to dialogue with them and tell them what we think. Go show them
our love, which is God's love.”