Pope at Audience: The Holy Spirit
and the unchained power of the Gospel
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| Pope Francis at the General Audience (Vatican Media) |
Pope Francis during his weekly General Audience says the
Holy Spirit is the protagonist of the Church's mission.
By Lydia O'Kane
Despite pilgrims and tourists having their umbrellas to the
ready for Wednesday’s General Audience, the brief drizzle that descended on St
Peter’s Square then turned into a clear sky as Pope Francis reflected on his
continuing catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles.
He told those gathered that in this book, one can see how
“the Holy Spirit is the protagonist of the Church's mission: it is He who
guides the journey of the evangelizers showing them the path to follow.”
St Paul’s missionary journey
The Pope noted that this can be clearly seen when the
Apostle Paul, having come to Troad, receives a vision begging him to come to
Macedonia and help the people there.
The Apostle, said Pope Francis has no hesitation; he leaves
for Macedonia, sure that it is God Himself who sends him, and arrives in Philippi.
The conversion of Lydia
The Pontiff explained to those present that the power of the
Gospel is directed above all to the women of Philippi, in particular to Lydia,
a merchant dealing in purple dye, and a believer in God to whom the Lord opens
her heart "to adhere to the words of Paul".
Lydia, continued Pope Francis in fact, “welcomes Christ by
receiving Baptism together with her family and welcomes those who belong to
Christ, hosting Paul and Silas in her house.” “Here we have the witness of the
arrival of Christianity in Europe: the beginning of a process of inculturation
that still lasts today”, he said.
The Pope went on to describe how, after having received
hospitality at Lydia’s house, Paul and Silas then find themselves having to
deal with the harshness of prison. He remarked that they go from the
consolation of this conversion of Lydia and her family, to the desolation of
prison where the key is thrown away for having healed a slave girl in the name
of Jesus.
Speaking off the cuff, the Pope said that this slave’s
masters made much money out of getting her tell people’s fortunes.
Even today, Pope Francis commented, “there are people who
pay for this” recalling in his former diocese, in a very large park, there were
more than 60 tables where fortune tellers read palms and people believed and
paid.
Prison and a jailer’s baptism
By praying fervently to the Lord, said the Pope, "Paul
and Silas are freed of their chains by a sudden earthquake. This prompts
their jailer to ask how he too can be saved, and after hearing the word of the
Lord, he receives baptism together with his family.”
Concluding his catechesis, the Pope underlined how “in these
events we see the working of the Holy Spirit and the unchained power of the
Gospel.
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