The picture is from beautiful Canada, but invokes a sense of mission for me.
The third section of the Pope's homily on Pentecost is about "Mission." He has been telling us since he first became Pope that we need to go out to others. Here is an excerpt from the Pentecost homily:
The
Holy Spirit draws us into the mystery of the living God and saves us
from the threat of a Church which is gnostic and self-referential,
closed in on herself; he impels us to open the doors and go forth to
proclaim and bear witness to the good news of the Gospel, to communicate
the joy of faith, the encounter with Christ. The Holy Spirit is the
soul of mission.
The events that took place in Jerusalem almost two thousand years ago
are not something far removed from us; they are events which affect us
and become a lived experience in each of us. The Pentecost of the Upper
Room in Jerusalem is the beginning, a beginning which endures. The Holy
Spirit is the supreme gift of the risen Christ to his apostles, yet he
wants that gift to reach everyone. As we heard in the Gospel, Jesus
says: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to
remain with you forever” (Jn 14:16).
It is the Paraclete Spirit, the “Comforter”, who grants us the courage
to take to the streets of the world, bringing the Gospel! The Holy
Spirit makes us look to the horizon and drive us to the very outskirts
of existence in order to proclaim life in Jesus Christ. Let us ask
ourselves: do we tend to stay closed in on ourselves, on our group, or
do we let the Holy Spirit open us to mission?
Please try to read the Pope's talk to the Bishops of Italy yesterday evening as it is excellent as, indeed, I am finding joy in all he says. You can find it on the blog link on the right to Whispers in the Loggia.
No comments:
Post a Comment