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Pope Leo XIV has said all Christians are called to enter “the dynamism of mission and to face the challenges of evangelisation.”
On Friday, the Pope addressed two separate groups: seminary formators and participants in the Xaverian Missionaries’ General Chapter, which he acknowledged were “certainly two different events.”
The Holy Father said the call to be missionaries “requires of us all, ordained ministers and lay faithful alike, a solid and integral formation, which is not limited to specialised knowledge, but must aim to transform our humanity and our spirituality so that they reflect the Gospel, and so that we have ‘the same mind’ as Christ Jesus.”
“Recently, the Dicastery for the Clergy hosted an international gathering dedicated to priests on the theme, ‘Joyful Priests’. We can add that to be enthused by the joy of the Gospel is not just for priests, but for everyone, and so we can speak of happy Christians, happy disciples and happy missionaries,” the Pope said.
“If this hope is not to remain a mere slogan, formation is essential. Indeed, it is necessary that the ‘house’ of our life and vocational journey, whether priestly or lay, be founded on ‘rock’ [cf. Mt 7:24-25], that is, on solid foundations with which to face the human and spiritual storms from which even the lives of Christians, priests and missionaries are not exempt. How can we build our house on rock?” Leo asked.
He said missionaries must first cultivate friendship with Jesus.
“This is the foundation of the house, which must lie at the heart of every vocation and apostolic mission. We need personally to experience the closeness of the Master; to know that we have been seen, loved and chosen by the Lord by pure grace and without merit on our part, because it is above all our own personal experience that we then exude in our ministry,” the Pope said.
“Moreover, when we form others in the priestly life and, according to our specific vocation, proclaim the Gospel in mission lands, we first radiate our personal experience of friendship with Christ, which shines through in our way of living, in our attitude, in our humanity, and in how we are capable of living out healthy relationships.”
Leo said formators, and those responsible for them, must not forget that they themselves are on a journey of permanent evangelical conversion.
“At the same time, missionaries must not forget that they are always the first recipients of the Gospel, the first to be evangelised. This means that we are constantly to work on ourselves. A concerted effort is needed to look into our hearts in order to see the shadows and wounds that mark us, and then to have the courage to abandon our masks and cultivate an intimate friendship with Christ. In this way, we will allow ourselves to be transformed by the life of the Gospel and become authentic missionary disciples,” he said.
The Pope also called on evangelists to share the mission with all the baptised.
“During the first centuries of the Church, it was usual for all the faithful to be like missionary disciples and to commit themselves personally to evangelisation. The ordained ministry was at the service of this mission shared by all,” he said.
“Today, we feel strongly that we must return to this participation of all the baptised in witnessing to and proclaiming the Gospel,” he continued.
“At the same time, I would like to say to the formators that priests must also be trained in this – not to think of themselves as lone leaders, nor to live out the ordained priesthood with a sense of superiority,” Leo added.
“We need priests who are able to discern and appreciate in lay people the grace of Baptism and the charisms that flow from it, perhaps even helping them to open up to these gifts and then to find the courage and enthusiasm to commit themselves to help the life of the Church and society.”
