Pope: Open hearts with the Gospel message
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday received
the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception who are in
Rome for their General Chapter, telling them to open hearts with the Gospel
message.
The Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate
Conception was founded, in 1673, in Poland and works in 26 countries
around the world.
In prepared remarks to the participants of the
Congregation’s General Chapter on Saturday, Pope Francis told them that the
example of their founder, St. Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, who was canonized
last year, was both the light and guide of their walk and fully understood the
meaning of being a disciple of Christ.
In this perspective, the Pope said, “your service of the
Word is the witness of the Risen Christ, that you have encountered on your
path…” adding, that they were called to spread the Gospel message wherever they
are sent.
The Pope also underlined that Christian witness requires
engagement with and for the poor, noting it was a commitment that has
characterized the Congregation.
The Holy Father encouraged the Marian Fathers to keep
alive this tradition of service to the poor and the humble, through the
proclamation of the Gospel, along with the works of mercy and prayers for the
souls of the faithfully departed.
He continued by saying that “the great challenge of
inculturation asks you today to announce the Good News in languages and ways
understandable to the men and women of our time, involved in rapid social and
cultural transformation processes.
The horizons of evangelization and the urgent need to bear
witness to the Gospel message, without distinction, the Pope said “constitute
the vast field of your apostolate.” Many people, the Holy Father observed, “are
still waiting to know Jesus, the one Redeemer of man.”
Such an urgent mission, Pope Francis underlined, “requires
personal and community conversion. Only fully open hearts to the action of
Grace”, he said, “are able to interpret the signs of the times and to seize the
appeals of humanity in need of hope and peace.”
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