The Word of God continues to grow and spread the Pope tells evangelizers

(October 17, 2011) Pope Benedict on Saturday addressed participants in the first meeting of the New Evangelization noting that “the Word of God continues to grow and spread," even though it often finds a land dominated by "closure and rejection, ways of thinking and living that are far from seeking God and truth.” Speaking at the end of the meeting, the Holy Father explained that the Vatican’s new Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, established last year, "is called to offer special help to the Church's mission in traditionally Christian countries in the contemporary world where there is "closure and rejection", indifference and even hostility towards the Word of God. Yet "the Word of God continues to grow and spread" primarily because "the power of the Word does not depend primarily on our action, our means, our 'doing', but on God, who hides his power under the signs of weakness. Besides, the Word of God always falls in "good soil that receives and produces fruit. The preaching of the Word must always be immersed in a profound relationship with God in an intense life of prayer, the Pope said, adding, the world today is need of people who talk to God, to be able to talk about God. He noted that many evangelizers today continue to courageously become Christ disciples, despite the indifference, misunderstanding and persecution they suffer.