(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the participants in the pastoral convention
of the Rome diocese on Monday evening, at the opening of the event. In recent years,
the annual meeting between the bishop of Rome and the leaders of pastoral, catechetical
and outreach initiatives in the city has taken place in the cathedral Basilica of
St John Lateran. On Monday evening, however, the venue was changed to the Paul VI
audience hall in Vatican City. Listen: The Holy Father
spoke off the cuff, interrupted several times by sustained applause. The transformative,
revolutionary power of grace, especially baptismal grace, and the need to renew faith
formation in order to tap that power, were the focal points of the first portion of
the Holy Father’s remarks, which traced a broad-strokes overview of the pastoral focus
of the diocese through the past year. Then, Pope Francis turned to the theme of spiritual
discipline, patience and zeal for the Gospel – to carry the Gospel into the suburbs
and outskirts of the city, into the hearts of those who live without hope. “We
must go out to reach the flesh of the Lord who suffers,” wherever and in whatever
circumstances the suffering one happens to be. “Dear, dear brothers and sisters,”
said Pope Francis, “Let us be not afraid! Let us go forth to tell our brothers and
our sisters that we are under grace, that Jesus gives us grace and that it costs us
nothing: only [we must] receive it,” and he concluded with a one word exhortation:
Avanti! “Forward!” Here is a Vatican Information Service synopsis of the
speech by Pope Francis (VIS) – “I'm Not Ashamed of the Gospel” was the
theme of Pope Francis' catechesis given yesterday afternoon in the Paul VI Hall for
the inauguration of the Ecclesial Congress (17-19 June) that concludes the Diocese
of Rome's pastoral year. The theme of the pastoral year was: “Christ, We Need You!
The Responsibility of the Baptized in Proclaiming Jesus Christ.” The meeting began
with Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of the Diocese, greeting the Bishop
of Rome. His address followed the Reading of the First Letter of St. Paul to the Romans,
which contains the phrases that inspired the Pope's catechesis: “For I am not ashamed
of the Gospel. … We who were baptized … are not under the law but under grace.” Following
are ample excerpts from Pope Francis' prepared address with some of the impromptu
comments he added. “A revolution, in order to transform history, must profoundly
change human hearts. Revolutions that have taken place throughout the centuries have
changed political and economic systems, but non of them have truly changed the human
heart. Only Jesus Christ accomplished the true revolution, the one that radically
transforms life, with his Resurrection that, as Benedict XVI loves to recall, was
'the greatest “mutation” in the history of humanity' and it gave birth to a new world.” “This
is the experience that the Apostle Paul lives. After having met Jesus on the way to
Damascus, he radically changes his perspective on life and receives Baptism. God transforms
his heart. Before he was a violent persecutor of Christians, now he becomes an Apostle,
a courageous witness of Jesus Christ. … With Baptism, the paschal sacrament, we to
are made to participate in that same change and, like Paul, 'we too might live in
newness of life'. … We are led to believe that it is primarily in changing structures
that we can build a new world. Faith tells us that only a new heart, one regenerated
by God, can create a new world: a heart 'of flesh' that loves, suffers, and rejoices
with others; a heart full of tenderness for those who, bearing the wounds of their
lives, feel themselves to be on the outskirts of society. Love is the greatest force
for transforming reality because it breaks down the walls of selfishness and fills
the chasms that keep us apart from one another.” “Even in Rome there are people
who live without hope and who are immersed in deep sadness that they try to get out
of, believing to have found happiness in alcohol, in drugs, in gambling, in the power
of money, in sex without rules. But they find themselves still more dejected and sometimes
vent their anger towards life with violent acts that are unworthy of the human person.
… We who have discovered the joy of having God for our Father and his love for us,
can we stand idly by in front of our brothers and sisters and not proclaim the Gospel
to them? We who have found in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, the meaning of
life, can we be indifferent towards this city that asks us, perhaps even unconsciously,
for hope? … We are Christians; we are disciples of Jesus not to be wrapped up in ourselves
but to open ourselves to others in order to help them, in order to bring them to Christ
and to protect every creature.” “St. Paul is aware that Jesus—as his name signifies—is
the Saviour of all humanity, not just of persons of a certain age or geographical
area. The Gospel is for all because God loves everyone and wants to save everyone.
The proclamation of the Gospel is destined primarily to the poor, to those who often
lack the essentials for a decent life. The good news is first announced to them, that
God loves them before all others and comes to visit them through the acts of charity
that the disciples of Christ carry out in his name. Others think that Jesus' message
is destined to those who don't have cultural training and who therefore find in faith
the answer to the many 'whys' that are present in their hearts. Instead, the Apostle
strongly affirms that the Gospel is for everyone, even experts. The wisdom that comes
from Revelation is not opposed to human wisdom, but rather purifies and elevates it.
The Church has always been present in the places where culture develops.” The Pope
then improvised: “The Gospel is for all! Going out toward the poor doesn't mean that
we must become paupers or some sort of 'spiritual bums'! No, that's not what it means!
It means that we must go towards the flesh of the suffering Jesus but Jesus' flesh
also suffers in those who don't know it, with their studies, their intelligence, their
culture. We must go there! That's why I like to use the expression 'go to the outskirts',
the existential peripheries. Everyone, all of them, [who suffer] from physical and
real poverty to intellectual poverty, which is also real. All the outskirts, all the
intersections of paths: go there. And there sow the seed of the Gospel by word and
by witness.” “This means that we must have courage. … I want to tell you something.
In the Gospel there's that beautiful passage that tells us of the shepherd who, on
returning to the sheepfold and realizing that a sheep is missing, leaves the 99 and
goes to look for it, to look for the one. But, brothers and sisters, we have one.
It's the 99 who we're missing! We have to go out, we must go to them! In this culture—let's
face it—we only have one. We are the minority. And do we feel the fervour, the apostolic
zeal to go out and find the other 99? This is a big responsibility and we must ask
the Lord for the grace of generosity and the courage and the patience to go out, to
go out and proclaim the Gospel.” “Sustained by this certainty that comes from Revelation,
we have the courage, the confidence, to go out of ourselves, to go out of our communities,
to go where men and women live, work, and suffer, and to proclaim the Father's mercy
to them, which was made known to humanity in Jesus of Nazareth. … Let us always remember,
however, that the Adversary wants to keep us separated from God and therefore instils
disappointment in our hearts when we do not see our apostolic commitment immediately
rewarded. Every day the devil sows the seeds of pessimism and bitterness in our hearts.
… Let us open ourselves to the breath of the Holy Spirit, who never ceases to sow
seeds of hope and confidence. Don't forget that God is the strongest and that if we
allow him into our lives nothing and no one can oppose his action. So let's not be
overcome by the discouragement that we encounter in facing difficulties when we talk
of Jesus and the Gospel. Let's not think that faith doesn't have a future in our city!” “St.
Paul then adds: 'I am not ashamed of the Gospel'. For him, the Gospel is the proclamation
of Jesus' death on the cross. … The cross forcefully reminds us that we are sinners,
but above all that we are love, that we are so dear to God's heart that, to save us,
He didn't hesitate to sacrifice his Son Jesus. The Christian's only boast is knowing
that they are loved by God. … Every person needs to feel themself loved the way they
are because this is the only thing that makes life beautiful and worthy of being lived.
In our time, when [what is freely given] seems to fade in our interpersonal relationships,
we Christians proclaim a God who, to be our friend, asks nothing but to be accepted.
Think of how many live in desperation because they have never met someone who has
shown them attention, comforted them, made them feel precious and important. We, the
disciples of Christ, can we refuse to go to those places that no one wants to go out
of fear of compromising ourselves or the judgement of others, and thus deny our brothers
and sisters the announcement of God's mercy?” Speaking off the cuff again, the
Pope added: “Freely given! We have received this gratuity, this grace, freely. We
must give it freely. And this is what, in the end, I want to tell you … Don't be afraid
of love, of the love of God our Father. … Don't be afraid to receive the grace of
Jesus Christ. Don't be afraid of our freedom that is given by the grace of Jesus Christ,
or, as Paul said: 'You are not under the law but under grace'. Don't be afraid of
grace. Don't be afraid to go out of yourselves … to go and find the 99 who aren't
home. Go out to dialogue with them and tell them what we think. Go show them our love,
which is God's love.”