Who is in charge of the Church and how is it organized internally?"The path of evangelization does not always depend on our will."During the general audience, Pope Francis encouraged us to ask St. Joseph to help us "to be faithful and courageous apostles, open to dialogue and ready to face the challenges of evangelization," to which all the baptized are called by our Christian vocation.
After formulating the petition to the Lord through the intercession of St. Joseph, the Argentinean Pope thanked "in a special way all the people belonging to the political parties and social leaders of my country, who have joined together to sign a letter of greeting on the occasion of the tenth year of the pontificate. Thank you for this gesture", he said.
Then, the Holy Father added that "just as you have united to sign this letter, how nice that you unite to talk, to discuss, and to carry the homeland forward. May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin watch over you".
The mention to St. Joseph and to the political and social leaders of Argentina took place when he referred to the Spanish-speaking faithful and pilgrims. A little later, addressing the Italian-speaking pilgrims, the Pope expressed his "closeness to the people of Malawi, who have been hit by a cyclone in recent days. May the Lord sustain the families and communities hit by this calamity.
Also, as is customary in almost every audience and at the Angelus, the Pope made an appeal regarding the war in Ukraine. On this occasion he addressed political leaders to "respect places of worship".
Christian vocation, a call to the apostolate
At the audience, which for the second time this year, on a sunny day, took place in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the passion to evangelize, "and in the school of the Second Vatican Council, let us try to understand better what it means to be 'apostles' today," he said.
"The word "apostle"brings to mind the group of the Twelve apostles chosen by Jesus. Sometimes we call "apostle" a saint, or more generally bishops. But are we aware that being apostles refers to every Christian, and therefore also to each one of us? Indeed, we are called to be apostles in a Church that we profess in the Creed to be apostolic".
His first words referred to the mission, and to the call. "So, what does it mean to be an apostle? It means to be sent on a mission. Exemplary and foundational is the event in which the Risen Christ sends his apostles into the world, transmitting to them the power that he himself has received from the Father and giving them his Spirit. We read in John's Gospel: 'Jesus said to them again: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." Having said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit"' (20:21-22)"
"Another fundamental aspect of being an apostle is the vocation, that is, the call," Pope Francis stressed. "It has been so from the beginning, when the Lord Jesus "called those whom he wanted, and they came to him" (Mk. 3:13). He constituted them as a group, attributing to them the title of "apostles", so that they might be with him and be sent on mission. In his letters, St. Paul presents himself as follows: "Paul, called to be an apostle" (1 Cor 1:1) and also: "Paul, a servant of Christ, an apostle by vocation, chosen for the Gospel of God" (Rom 1:1). And he insists on the fact that he is "an apostle, not of men, nor through any man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead" (Gal 1:1); God called him from his mother's womb to preach the Gospel among the nations (cf. Gal 1:15-16).
Priests, consecrated and lay faithful
Immediately, the Pope began to draw consequences from the Scriptures. "The experience of the Twelve and the witness of Paul also challenge us today," he said. "Everything depends on a gratuitous call from God; God chooses us also for services that at times seem to exceed our capacities or do not correspond to our expectations; to the call received as a gratuitous gift it is necessary to respond gratuitously.
The Council says: "The Christian vocation, by its very nature, is also a vocation to the apostolate" (Decree Apostolicam actuositatem [AA, 2)".
"The witness of the first Christians also illuminates our apostolate in the Church today. Their experience shows us that it is God who chooses us and graces us for the mission," he said.
"It is a call that is common, 'as common is the dignity of the members, which derives from their regeneration in Christ; common is the grace of sonship; common is the call to perfection: one salvation, one hope and undivided charity'," he added, citing No. 32 of the Lumen Gentium (LG) of the Second Vatican Council.
"It is a call that concerns everyone, both those who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders and consecrated persons, as well as every lay faithful, man or woman," the Holy Father stressed. "And it is a call that enables one to carry out one's apostolic task actively and creatively, in the heart of a Church in which 'there is a variety of ministries, but a unity of mission. To the Apostles and their successors Christ conferred the task of teaching, sanctifying and ruling in his own name and authority. But even the laity, made sharers in the priestly, prophetic and kingly ministry of Christ, fulfill their role in the mission of the whole people of God in the Church and in the world' (AA.2)".
Collaboration between laity and hierarchy: equal dignity, no privileges
"In this context, how does the Council understand the collaboration of the laity with the hierarchy? Is it merely a strategic adaptation to new emerging situations?" the Pope asked. And he responded by stressing that there are no "privileged categories."
It is not a matter of strategic adaptations, the Pope pointed out. "Not at all, there is something more, which goes beyond the contingencies of the moment and which maintains its own value also for us. "The Church," the Decree Ad Gentes affirms, "is not truly founded, nor fully alive, nor a perfect sign of Christ among the nations, as long as there does not exist and work with the Hierarchy a laity properly so called" (n. 21).
"In the context of the unity of the mission, the diversity of charisms and ministries must not give rise, within the ecclesial body, to privileged categories; nor can it serve as a pretext for forms of inequality that have no place in Christ and in the Church. This is because, although 'some, by the will of Christ, have been constituted doctors, dispensers of the mysteries and pastors for the others, there is an authentic equality among all in terms of the dignity and action common to all the faithful in order to build up the Body of Christ' (LG, 32)." "Who has more dignity, the bishop, the priest...? No, we are all equal," he added.
"Thus posed, the question of equality in dignity asks us to rethink many aspects of our relationships, which are decisive for evangelization," Pope Francis concluded. "For example, are we aware of the fact that with our words we can damage people's dignity, thus ruining relationships? While we try to dialogue with the world, do we also know how to dialogue among ourselves believers? Is our speech transparent, sincere and positive, or is it opaque, equivocal and negative? Is there a willingness to dialogue directly, face to face, or do we send messages through a third party? Do we know how to listen in order to understand the reasons of the other, or do we impose ourselves, perhaps also with soft words?"
"Dear brothers and sisters, let us not be afraid to ask ourselves these questions," the Pope concluded. "They can help us to verify the way we live our baptismal vocation, our way of being apostles in an apostolic Church."
