Vatican City, 3 May 2014 (VIS) – “New
people in Christ Jesus, sharing responsibility for the joy of living”
is the theme chosen for the national assembly of Italian Catholic
Action, whose members were received in audience by Pope Francis this
morning. He emphasised to them that this joy is that of the disciples
who encounter the risen Christ and that it is necessary for it to be
interiorised as part of an evangelical style able to influence life.
“In the current social and ecclesial
context, the lay members of Catholic Action are required to renew
your missionary choice, open to the horizons that the Spirit
indicates to the Church and the expression of a new youth of the lay
apostolate. First and foremost, the parishes, especially those that
are weary and closed, need your apostolic enthusiasm, your full
willingness and your creative service. This means taking on the
missionary dynamism to reach out to everyone, especially those who
feel they are distant, and the weakest, most forgotten parts of the
population. It means opening the doors and letting Jesus out to
them”.
Staying, going and rejoicing were the
three key words that the Pope indicated to Catholic Action as beacons
for their path.
“As proclaimers and witnesses of
Christ, it is necessary, first of all, to stay near to Him”, he
began. “It is from the encounter with Him, He Who is our life and
our joy, that our witness gains new meaning and new strength every
day”.
He then spoke of the need to “go and
proclaim that God is the Father and that Jesus Christ has let you
know Him, and therefore your life has changed: it is possible to live
as brothers, carrying within a hope that does not disappoint. …
[Go] where humankind suffers and hopes, loves and believes; where
there are our deepest dreams, our truest questions, the desires of
the heart. There, Jesus awaits you”.
To rejoice, finally, means “being
people who sing life, who sing faith; people able to recognise their
own talents and their own limits, who are able to see in all their
days, even the darkest, the signs of the Lord's presence. Rejoice
because the Lord has called you to share in the responsibility of the
mission of His Church”.
“With these three attitudes, staying
in Jesus, going out to the boundaries and living the joy of Christian
belonging, you can carry forward your vocation and avoid the
temptation of 'quiescence', which has nothing to do with staying with
Jesus; the temptation of closure and 'intimism'; and the temptation
of formal seriousness. Avoid living a life that bears more
resemblance to that of a statue in a museum rather than those of
people called upon by Christ to live and spread the joy of the
Gospel”.
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