Pope: Missionaries speak with the Church’s language of love

By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis on Thursday sent a message to the approximately 1,300 participants in the 6th American Missionary Congress (CAM6), which will be held in the Puerto Rican city of Ponce from November 19 to 24.

Missionaries from across the American continents came together to share their work under the theme “Evangelizers in the Spirit: To the Ends of the Earth.”

In his message sent to the papal legate and archbishop emeritus of Caracas, Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo, Pope Francis encouraged all missionaries to pray often to the Holy Trinity, so that God “pours out his love and renews the face of the earth.” . »

The Pope reflected on the foundation of the Church’s evangelizing mission, affirming that it rests on our personal and loving encounter with Jesus Christ.

“We cannot give away what we do not have,” he said. “We cannot express what we have not experienced, what our eyes have not seen or what our hands have not touched. »

An irrepressible Christian joy

Jesus, the Pope noted, was himself a missionary, who spoke from the fullness of his heart after spending time in prayer with his Father.

The vocation of all baptized Christians, he said, is to “see God, to see him in the world, in our brothers and sisters, with “Christified” eyes that bear a compassionate, welcoming and merciful look.” .

He added that Christians are unable to contain their joy after truly meeting the Risen One.

The Holy Spirit enables us to express this joy through words and testimonies, he said.

“Thanks to its life-giving power,” declared Pope Francis, “we can transmit the message in all languages, not only because the Church speaks them all, but above all because she always speaks the same language, the language of the love, understandable. to all humanity, because it is part of our very essence, created in the image of God.

The Holy Spirit leads us deeper in listening

Pope Francis then invited the missionaries to allow their hearts to expand in synodality and mutual listening, under the impulse of the Holy Spirit.

“We must not abandon our prayer, insistently asking the Father to pour out his love and his life-giving Spirit to renew the face of this earth, wounded by our injustices and the suffering we have caused,” he said.

In conclusion, the Pope designated the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model of evangelization who offered Christ to all humanity.

“Imitating her example of self-sacrifice and supported by her maternal and provident care,” the Pope prayed, “may we always be missionary disciples to the ends of the earth.”