With the novelty of a Chinese-language reader, the first time this has ever happened in a Chinese-language Audience Pope Francis said on Wednesday at the Vatican that "today, with great pleasure, we begin the reading of the summary of the catechesis in Chinese".
"I wish, therefore, to extend my warmest greetings to the Chinese I invoke joy and peace upon all of you and upon your families. On all of you and on your families I invoke joy and peace. May God bless you," the Pontiff said.
The reader's words in the language Chinese The languages of the world have been included in fifth place, after French, English, German and Spanish, and before Portuguese, Arabic, Polish and Italian, with which the Pope usually ends.
Core of the Gospel
Before the reader in Chinese, who like the other readers read an excerpt from the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, the Holy Father recalled the central message of evangelizing preaching: "After Easter, the word 'Gospel' takes on the new meaning of good news about Jesus, that is, the Paschal Mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. This is what the apostle calls 'gospel' when he writes: 'I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes' (Rom 1:16)."
The Pontiff stressed that "in Christian preaching there are two constitutive elements: the content, which is the Gospel; and the medium, which is the Holy Spirit. The two are intimately united; that is, the Word of God is transmitted with the anointing of the Holy Spirit; without the Spirit, the soul, the life of preaching would be lacking, only ideas or precepts to be fulfilled would be spread".
First announcement, which always needs to be heard again
Further on, he added that "in catechesis, the first proclamation or 'kerygma' has a fundamental role, which must be at the center of evangelizing activity and of every attempt at ecclesial renewal. [When this first proclamation is called 'first', this does not mean that it is at the beginning and is then forgotten or replaced by other contents that go beyond it. It is the first in a qualitative sense, because it is the main proclamation, the one that must always be heard again in different ways".
Prayer and preaching Jesus
Now, "we could ask ourselves: if evangelizing action depends on the Holy Spirit, can we also do something? How can we collaborate in the evangelizing action of the Church? And the Pope answered: with "prayer", and "to be
We must be attentive not to preach ourselves but Jesus. This means that, before facing an apostolate, we need to pray, to invoke the Holy Spirit to assist us. And that mission has to be centered on Christ, not on our own desires or needs".
Brief preaching
On this point, Francis insisted that preaching should not be 8 minutes long, then he would say 10, among other reasons because we usually see men who go outside to smoke a cigarette during the homily. And the preaching must have "an idea, an affection and a proposal", he pointed out.
Immaculate Virgin Mary and Poland's support to Ukrainians
In his greeting to the Spanish-speaking pilgrims, the Pope said that "we are celebrating in these days the Novena in preparation for the Solemnity of the Blessed Sacrament of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Immaculate Conception. Let us ask Mary our Mother that, like her, we may remain open and available to the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the mission that the Church entrusts to us. May Jesus bless you and the Blessed Virgin protect you.
This is also emphasized by the final greeting in Italian: "The season of Advent, which has just begun, presents us in these days with the luminous example of the Immaculate Virgin. May she stimulate you on your journey of adhesion to Christ and sustain your hope".
Then, addressing the Polish-speaking pilgrims, he recalled that "next Sunday we will celebrate in Poland the 25th Day of Prayer and Material Aid to the Church in the East. I thank all those who support with prayer and offerings the Church in those territories, especially in war-torn Ukraine, and I bless you from the bottom of my heart".
Criteria of evangelization, and peace.
Before giving the Blessing, the Pontiff considered that "not wanting to preach ourselves also implies not always giving priority to pastoral initiatives promoted by us and linked to our own name, but collaborating willingly, if asked, in community initiatives, or that are entrusted to us out of obedience. May the Holy Spirit teach the Bride to preach the Gospel in this way to the men and women of today!".
Finally, the Pope reiterated that we pray for peace, his usual appeal for some time. "War is a human defeat, it destroys, let us pray for the countries at war, there are so many innocent children who suffer!".
