Pope urges evangelical
renewal of Church’s missionary commitment
Pope Francis on Friday met the national directors of the
Pontifical Missionary Societies (PMS) who are holding their annual general
assembly, May 28 – June 2, just outside Rome.
By Robin Gomes
Pope Francis on Friday called for the renewal of the
Church’s missionary commitment which he said consists in growth in personal
holiness and spiritual creativity in openness to the promptings of the Holy
Spirit.
Pope Francis made the remark during an encounter with the
national directors of the four Pontifical Missionary Societies (PMS)
who are holding their annual general assembly, May 28 – June 2.
The PMS include the Society for the Propagation of the
Faith, the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, the Holy Childhood Association and
the Pontifical Missionary Union (PMU) of Priests and Religious, and operate
under the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Evangelical missionary renewal
His talk to the group focused on the preparation for
the Extraordinary Missionary Month of October, 2019, which he said
should be a great opportunity to renew the missionary commitment throughout
the Church.
The theme of the Extraordinary Missionary Month is “Baptized
and sent: the Church of Christ on Mission in the World.”
Expressing concern that the work of the PMS could risk being
“reduced to the merely financial aspect of material assistance,” turning them
into “agencies like any others,” the Pope called for a missionary
conversion of the structures of the Church through personal
holiness and spiritual creativity.
Holy Spirit – author and protagonist of mission
He said it is not merely about renewing the old, but about letting
the Holy Spirit, create newness, making all things new.
Proselytism has nothing to do with mission, the Pope
said. We do not have a product to sell but a life to communicate - that
of God, his divine life, his merciful love, his holiness!
It is the Holy spirit, not the PMS, who is the protagonist
and author of mission who carries the Church forward. Hence , the Pope
said, it is wrong that we try to tame Him by putting Him into the many worldly
structures which ultimately will lead us to think that the PMS are an
enterprise, a business, something ours with the blessing of God.
Synod on Amazon
Recalling that the Synod for the Amazon will
be held during Extraordinary Missionary Month of October, Pope Francis urged
prayers that the Synod help in proving a more evangelical approach to
missionary work in this area of the world which he said “so troubled, so
unjustly exploited and so much in need of the salvation of Jesus Christ.”
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