Vatican City, 30 January 2016 (VIS) –
Pope Francis dedicated the first of his Jubilee audiences to the
theme "Mercy and Mission". The Jubilee audiences are an
initiative of the Holy Father during the Holy Year, enabling those
who are unable to attend the Wednesday general audiences to
participate in his catechesis. On this occasion more than 22,000
people were present in St. Peter's Square.
"Day by day we enter into the life
of this Holy Year of Mercy. With His grace, the Lord guides our steps
as we cross the Holy Door and comes towards us so as to stay always
with us, despite our shortcomings and our contradictions. Let us
never tire of asking His forgiveness, as when we are weak His
closeness makes us stronger and allows us to live our faith with
greater joy".
Referring to the close link between
mercy and mission, Francis underlined that as Christians we have the
responsibility to be missionaries of the Gospel. "When we
receive good news or have a good experience it is natural that we
wish to communicate it to others. … The joy we feel inspires us to
do so. It should be the same when we encounter the Lord. Indeed, the
concrete sign we have truly encountered Jesus is the joy we feel in
communicating this to others too. This is not proselytism, but rather
it is a gift: I give you what makes me joyful. Reading the Gospel we
see that this was also the experience of the first disciples. …
Encountering Jesus is the same as encountering His love. This love
transforms us and makes us able to transmit to others the strength
that it gives us".
"We could say that the day of our
Baptism each one of us is given another name alongside the one we
receive from our mother and father, and this name is 'Christopher',
which means 'Christ-bearer'. The name of our approach, as bearers of
Christ's joy and mercy", remarked the Holy Father. "The
Christian is a bearer of Christ. … But the mercy we receive from
the Father is not given to us as a private consolation, but rather
makes us instruments to enable others to receive the same gift. There
is a wonderful circularity between mercy and mission".
"Living mercy makes us
missionaries of mercy, and being missionaries enables us increasingly
to grow in God's mercy. So, let us take seriously the fact of being
Christians, and let us commit ourselves to living as believers,
because only in this way may the Gospel touch the people's hearts,
opening them to receive the grace of love", concluded the Holy
Father.
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