Continue working on Christ's assignment , Pope tells faithful in Frascati

July 16, 2012

Pope Benedict XVI visited the town of Frascati, near his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, on July 15. Celebrating Sunday Mass there, the Holy Father spoke in his homily about the mission of all Christians to spread the Gospel.

When he assigned his apostles to preach, the Pontiff said, Jesus showed that “He does not disdain the help that other men can contribute to his work, He knows their limits and weaknesses, but does not despise them.” The Lord charges his disciples with the responsibility for spreading his message throughout the world. Jesus also warned his followers that the message would not always be received well. The Pope observed that prophets of the Old Testament faced the same problem, citing the day’s reading from the prophet Amos, who was rejected for “preaching what God says and not what people wanted to hear.”

“This remains the mandate of the Church,” the Pope said. “She does not preach what the powerful want to hear. Her criterion is truth and justice, even if that garners no applause and collides with human power.”

There is another essential aspect of Christ’s preaching, the Pope continued. The Lord instructed his disciples to do what He did: to cure the sick and help those in need wherever they visited. Pope Benedict said: “The apostolic mission must always include two aspects: preaching the word of God and manifesting his goodness with acts of charity, service, and dedication."

The Pope concluded his sermon by saying that the Christian community must always be engaged in the task to which Christ assigned his followers: “never closed, but always open and projected towards the proclamation of the Gospel.”

 

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Further information:

• The Church Must Preach Truth and Justice (VIS)
• Pope in Frascati: God calls, we need to listen (Vatican Radio)