Venezuelan bishop exhorts Catholics to bring the Gospel to every person

Caracas, Venezuela, Aug 16, 2008 / 07:27 am

The Bishop of San Cristobal in Venezuela, Bishop Mario Moronta Rodriguez, exhorted  the faithful of the country to bring the Gospel to all peoples without exception, especially to those “who have strayed and those who do not know the Word of God,” as Jesus came not just for a few but for all of humanity.

In commenting on the passage of the encounter of Jesus with the Canaanite woman, Bishop Moronta said, “The teaching is clear.” The Canaanites “were not Jews and they adored idols.”  Therefore their reputation “was not very good among the people of Israel.”  However, “Jesus shows that her faith is great and he cures her sick daughter,” showing that “he has not come only for the people of Israel” and that “for God no one is excepted,” the bishop said.

Likewise, Bishop Moronta noted that this “Gospel passage should help us to illuminate our existence,” as like Christ, “we also are called to evangelize, beginning with the bread of the Word for all, without exception,” although at times “we can fall into the temptation of only reaching out to the groups that are closest to us.”

“The Lord invites us, according to this Gospel passage, to take risks like the Canaanite woman did -  the discovery of the person of Jesus made her ask for the scraps, but the Lord gave her much more, the bread of the healing of her daughter,” the bishop said.