Be courageous witnesses of the Gospel!

May 22, 2013.  St. Peter's Square.

In today's audience, Pope Francis spoke about the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and in the life of believers.  Here is a summary:

In the creed, right after we profess faith in the Holy Spirit, we say that we belive in the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”  There is a profound link between these two: the Holy Spirit gives life to the Church and guides her steps.  The Church could not live without the Holy Spirit nor do the work that Christ has given her.

Evangelization is the mission of the church, not just of some, but of all of us, of me, of you, of all of us.  Pope Paul VI said that evangelization is the grace and the proper vocation of the Church; it is her most profound identity.  The Church exists to evangelize.

The Holy Spirit is the “motor” of evangelization: as in the the Church’s beginning at Pentecost, so also today.  This means that in order to evangelize, we need to open ourselves to the horizon of the Holy Spirit, without fear and without asking where He will lead us.  We have to pray, and we also need to ask ourselves: Do I let myself be guided by the Holy Spirit in such a way that my life and my testimony of faith are of unity and communion?  What do I do with my life?  Do I create unity, or do I divide by chatter, criticism, and envy?  We have to think about what we do.

The Holy Spirit will also give us the courage to announce the Gospel with frankness, openly and clearly, in every time and place.  He will give us energy for the mission and new ways to do it.  Evangelizing, that is, proclaiming Christ, gives us joy; egoism makes us bitter and sad—it brings us down.  But evangelizing brings us up.

Prayer is particularly important in this mission of evangelization.  We must always start with prayer and go from there, from the fire of the Holy Spirit.  Without prayer, our action is empty and our proclamation has no soul.

Let’s renew everyday our faith in the action of the Holy Spirit, our faith that He acts in us and lives in us.  He gives us apostolic fervor, peace, and joy.  Let’s allow ourselves to be guided by Him—we are men and women of prayer!—let’s announce the gospel with courage, and so become in our world instruments of unity and communion for God.

(At the end of his catechesis the Holy Father greeted the nearly 50,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square. He particularly encouraged everyone to pray for the victims, especially the children, of the disaster that occurred in Oklahoma, USA.)