Pope says all Catholics share the missionary commitment of the Church

(July 16, 2012) In the run-up to the Year of Faith and the up-coming Synod on New Evangelization, both kicking off in October, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged Catholics to share the responsibility for the Church and the formation of new generations of Christians. They need to listen to the call of God and be aware that rediscovering the beauty of being the Church means carrying on Christ’s work of “forming the formators”, clergy, religious and above all laity. Pope Benedict XVI made the point in his sermon at a morning Mass he celebrated at Frascati where he had gone from the summer papal residence of Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, where he is on vacation. Commenting on Sunday’s Gospel on Jesus sending out His first missionaries, the Pope said those who proclaim the word of Christ, "must not be attached to money and comfort," must know that they will be rejected and persecuted, must "preach justice even against applause, even against human power" and that they can not be content merely preaching conversion, but must also show the love and goodness of God with acts of charity, service and dedication. Saying that the Lord calls each one of us, whether in priesthood, the consecrated state or married life, the Poep said God distributes different gifts for different tasks in the Church. The Pope said, like Mary, we need to listen, welcome and respond to God’s call to follow Him and extend His mission today.
Returning to the summer papal residence of Castel Gandolfo the Pope addressed a large crowd in the courtyard, drawing attention to the saint of the day, Bonaventure, a 13th century Franciscan who popularized St. Paul’s belief in the “centrality of Christ” in human history. “In Jesus,” the Pope said, “God has spoken and given everything, but because he is an inexhaustible treasure, the Holy Spirit never ceases to reveal and actualize his mystery. Therefore, the work of Christ and the Church never regresses, but always progresses.” St. Bonaventure loved St. Francis because he took Christ’s instructions to His first missionaries literally, going with nothing for the journey except a walking stick – no food, no sack, no money in their belts.