Pope Francis: Gospel must be proclaimed with humility
(Vatican Radio) The Gospel must be proclaimed with humility,
overcoming the temptation of pride. That was the exhortation of Pope Francis at
the morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, on the feast of St Mark the Evangelist.
Among those taking part in the Mass were the Cardinal counsellors of the C-9.
The Holy Father spoke about the necessity for Christians of
“going out to proclaim” the Good News. A preacher, he said, must always be on a
journey, and not seek “an insurance policy,” seeking safety by remaining in one
place.
Jesus gave His disciples a mission: to proclaim the Gospel,
“to not remain in Jerusalem, but to go out to proclaim the Good News to all. In
his homily, Pope Francis reflected on passage from the Gospel of St Mark, which
relates the story of the Great Commission. He said “the Gospel is always
proclaimed on the journey, never seated, always on the journey.”
Going out to proclaim the Good News, never remaining
stopped but always on the journey
Christians, the Pope said, need “to go out where Jesus is
not known, or where Jesus is persecuted, or where Jesus is disfigured, to
proclaim the true Gospel”:
“To go out in order to proclaim. And, also, in this going
out there is life, the life of the preacher is played out. He is not safe;
there are no life insurance policies for preachers. And if a preacher seeks a
life insurance policy, he is not a true preacher of the Gospel: He doesn’t go
out, he stays in place, safe. So, first of all: Go, go out. The Gospel, the
proclamation of Jesus Christ, goes forth, always; on a journey, always. On a
physical journey, on a spiritual journey, on a journey of suffering: we think
of the proclamation of the Gospel that leads to so many wounded people – so
many wounded people! – who offer their sufferings for the Church, for the
Christians. But they always go out of themselves.”
But what is “the style of this proclamation?” the Pope
asked. “Saint Peter, who was St Mark’s teacher, was perfectly clear in his
description of this style”: “The Gospel must be announced in humility, because
the Son of God humbled Himself, annihilated Himself.” This, the Pope said, “is
the style of God”; there is no other. “The proclamation of the Gospel,” he
said, “is not a carnival, a party.” This is “not the proclamation of the
Gospel.”
The Gospel must be announced with humility, overcoming
the temptation of worldliness
The Gospel, the Pope said, “cannot be announced with human
power, cannot be proclaimed with human power, cannot be proclaimed with the
spirit of climbing and advancement.” “This is not the Gospel.” All of us, then,
are called to vest themselves with “humility, one towards another,” because
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble”:
“And why is this humility necessary? Precisely because we
carry forward a proclamation of humiliation – of glory, but through humility.
And the proclamation of the Gospel undergoes temptation: the temptation of
power, the temptation of pride, the temptation of worldliness, of so many kinds
of worldliness that they bring preaching or to speaking; because he does not
preach a watered down Gospel, without strength, a Gospel without Christ
crucified and risen. And for this reason St Peter says: ‘Be vigilant, be
vigilant, be vigilant… Your enemy the Devil is prowling around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing
that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same
sufferings.’ The proclamation of the Gospel, if it is true, undergoes
temptation."
Pope Francis said that if a Christian says he is proclaiming
the Gospel “but is never tempted,” it means that “the devil is not worried,”
because “we are preaching something useless.”
Let us ask the Lord that we might go out of ourselves in
order to evangelize
For this reason, the Pope continued, “in true preaching
there is always some temptation, and also some persecution.” He said that when
we are suffering, the Lord is there “to restore us, to give us strength, because
that is what Jesus promised when He sent the Apostles”:
“The Lord will be there to comfort us, to give us the
strength to go forward, because He works with us if we are faithful to the
proclamation of the Gospel, if we go out of ourselves to preach Christ
crucified, a scandal and a folly, and if we do this with a style of humility,
of true humility. May the Lord grant us this grace, as baptized people, all of
us, to take the path of evangelization with humility, with confidence in Him,
announcing the true Gospel: ‘The Word is come in the flesh.’ The Word of God is
come in the flesh. And this is a folly, it is a scandal; but doing it with the
understanding that the Lord is at our side, He works with us, and He confirms
our work.”
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