On Wednesday, February 16, Pope Francis addressed the crowd in the Vatican’s St. Paul VI Arena on the fourth part of the apostolic passion, evangelization. Why? What? How? He delivered his secret speech on the basis that the answer to the questions should be the proclamation of the gospel
Following the reading of the “Sending of the Apostles” from the Gospel of Matthew in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic, the Pope began to address the crowd.
Matthew 10; 7-10,16
Proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick; raise the dead; Heal the leper; Drive the demons; received as a gift; Give it as a gift. Do not keep any gold, silver or copper coins in your middle girdle. Don’t take a bag, two coats, crutches or crutches for travel. Because the worker is entitled to his food. “Here! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and fearless as doves.
Pope’s Secret Message – To Proclaim the Gospel to Be With Him
Good morning dear brothers and sisters Today we will look at evangelization in the fourth part of the Apostolic Passion. As mentioned in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus called the twelve – apostles – to be with him and to be sent out to preach the gospel. (Mark 4:14). The two words accommodation and dispatch may seem contradictory to us. But we cannot preach the gospel without staying with Jesus. You cannot stay with him without preaching the gospel. So it should be realized that both are connected with each other.
There is no evangelism without accommodation, and there is no accommodation without evangelism.
Jesus calls the apostles before sending them on their mission. The proclamation of the gospel arises from an encounter with God; Every Christian activity, especially the occult, starts from there. His presence fills us with the light of truth and confirms the gospel we proclaim. If we do not come often to meet him and receive his light we shall be extinguished; Instead of Him calling us, we try to lead ourselves to Him. Only those who are with Jesus can proclaim the gospel of Jesus. Without Jesus’ presence, work, and relationship with Him, we will never grow. In the Gospel, we learn that He sends the apostles before He prepares them. Shortly after calling the disciples, He sends them out to preach the Good News! This means revealing that occult experience is part of creation. Every disciple should remember the two important events of staying and going. Before Christ calls his disciples and sends them away, he gives them a discourse. This text, also known as the “Secretary Sermon”, is found in the 10th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. It gives us three parts of why to preach the gospel, what to preach and how to preach
Why declare?
You were gifted with the motivation to preach the gospel; In the words of Jesus, give freely, we are called to give freely what we have received as a free gift. To meet Jesus, to know Him, is to discover that we are loved and redeemed by Him. What a great gift it is, we cannot keep it to ourselves, we must feel the need to share it with others. We have a gift. We are a gift and therefore we are called to give of ourselves; To share the joy of being God’s children with brothers and sisters who don’t know it yet! This is the reason for the proclamation of the gospel.
What to announce?
It should be announced that the kingdom of heaven is near. God is near. He is very close to us. The main message of being close should be highlighted. Let him love us more than we love him. It is difficult to accept God’s love if we want to put ourselves at the center. In the proclamation of the gospel, God must be given the first place, and others must be given the opportunity to welcome him and feel his presence.
How to declare
“I am sending you as sheep among wolves,” says Jesus. He is not asking how to face the wolves, how to fight back, how to defend ourselves. Rather, Jesus says I am sending you as sheep and as lambs. He asks that we become meek, blameless, and willing to sacrifice; The meek, innocent, devoted lamb identifies us as the Shepherd and protects us from the wolves. In the words of St. John Chrysostom, “As long as we are lambs, we will overcome; if we are surrounded by many wolves, we will overcome them.” But if we become wolves, we will be defeated because we will lose the Shepherd’s help. Let us remember that he does not feed the wolves, but the lambs.” Rather than recommending what Jesus should bring to evangelism, it is interesting to say what not to bring: Do not carry any gold, silver, or copper coins in your loincloths. By saying that, he invites us to go to the world where we are not interested in worldly pursuits. Rather than talking about Jesus, these lines reveal Jesus himself.
Finally, merging:
Jesus sends out all the disciples, but not one by two. The Apostolic Church is united in both mystery and mystery unity. So he reveals to us the key to evangelism, to go together like little sheep, meek and good, unworldly. Let us welcome these invitations from Jesus: let us turn his words into references for our lives.
Concluding his speech, Pope Francis greeted the assembled English-speaking pilgrims, especially those from London, Vietnam and America. After that, our Lord Jesus Christ bestowed his apostolic blessing on all the people gathered and on their families.