Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Dear Christian families, dear young people, who live in this area and who attend this parish, let yourselves be more and more drawn by the desire to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do not wait until others bring you other messages that do not lead to life, but make yourselves missionaries of Christ for the brothers and sisters where you live, work, study or only pass your free time.” This was the exhortation launched by the Holy Father Benedict XVI during his pastoral visit on Sunday, March 7, at the parish of Saint John of the Cross, in the northern part of the Diocese of Rome.
In his homily during the mass, the Pope commented on the readings, revisiting the fundamental topic during this liturgical season: the call to conversion and to carry out works of penance. “During Lent each of us is invited by God to bring about a change in our lives, thinking and living according to the Gospel, correcting something in our way of praying, of acting, of working and in our relations with others. Jesus makes this appeal to us not with a severity that is an end in itself but precisely because he is concerned about our good, our happiness, our salvation,” the Pope explained.
Making reference to the Gospel passage on the sterile fig tree, Benedict XVI mentioned that “the dialogue that develops between the owner and the gardener manifests, on one hand, God’s mercy, which is patient and allows man, all of us, time for conversion; and, on the other hand, the necessity of immediately making the interior and exterior changes of life so as not to lose the opportunities that God’s mercy offers us to overcome our spiritual laziness and to return God’s love with our filial love. St. Paul too, in the reading that we heard, exhorts us not to deceive ourselves: It is not enough to be baptized and be nourished at the same Eucharistic meal if one does not live as a Christian and is not attentive to the signs from the Lord.”
Addressing the many faithful present, who have only recently had a church and a sufficient parish complex, the Pope exhorted them to “realize more and more that Church of living stones that you are,” inviting them to make of that church “a place where you may better listen to the Lord who speaks to us in the Scriptures.” He mentioned how “from the very beginning this parish was open to the movements and to the new ecclesial communities, thus developing a wider awareness of the Church and experiencing new forms of evangelization” and exhorted them to “continue in this direction with courage,” with the effort of trying to bring them all together in a “unified pastoral project.” As for “the co-responsibility of all the members of the People of God,” the Pope mentioned that it “demands a change in mentality, above all with regard to the laity, moving from considering them 'collaborators’ of the clergy to recognizing them as truly ‘co-responsible’ for the being and action of the Church, promoting a mature and dedicated laity in this way.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 8/03/2010)
