Pope: Evangelizing isn't about big talk – it's about joy

Quito, Ecuador, Jul 7, 2015 / 09:29 am

In his second homily while visiting Ecuador, Pope Francis spoke on Tuesday of the importance of fostering unity through evangelization, which he said is not done by preaching at people, but rather by being a joyful witness to the Gospel we have received.

"We evangelize not with grand words, or complicated concepts, but with the joy of the Gospel, which fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus," the Pope said July 7.

"Evangelization does not consist in proselytizing, proselytizing is a caricature of evangelization; rather, evangelization is attracting by our witness those who are far off, humbly drawing near to those who feel distant from God and the Church, drawing close to those who feel judged and condemned from the start by those who feel they're perfect and pure, drawing near to those who are fearful or indifferent."

Pope Francis' Mass took place in Quito on the second full day of his apostolic journey to his home continent of South America. The July 5-13 tour will also include stops in Bolivia and Paraguay.

Set in Quito's Bicentennial Park, the Mass followed a casual meeting with Ecuador's bishops earlier that morning. The park commemorates the 1809 Ecuadorian call for independence from Spain – the first of its kind in Latin America – which he noted "arose from being conscious of a lack of freedom, of exploitation and despoliation."

In his homily, which was packed with references to his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis centered on Christ's prayer in John 17:21 that his disciples "be one … so that the world may believe."

Referring to the "cry" of Christ to his Father and the Ecuadorians' early cry for independence, he said that "I would like to see these two cries joined together, under the beautiful challenge of evangelization."

"We who are gathered here at table with Jesus are ourselves a cry, a shout born of the conviction that his presence leads us to unity."

Even though Christ was experiencing "the worst of this world" in his own flesh at the moment of his prayer, he didn't back down or complain. Rather, he welcomed his task and calls us to the do the same, the Pope said.

"We too encounter daily a world torn apart by wars and violence … But is it precisely this troubled world into which Jesus sends us," he said, explaining that we shouldn't respond to this call "with nonchalance, or complain we do not have the resources to do the job, or that the problems are too big. Instead, we must respond by taking up the cry of Jesus and accepting the grace and challenge of being builders of unity."

Pope Francis remarked that "there was no shortage of conviction or strength in that cry for freedom which arose a little more than two hundred years ago. But history tells us that it only made headway once personal differences were set aside, together with the desire for power and the inability to appreciate other movements of liberation which were different yet not thereby opposed."

"Evangelization can be a way to unite our hopes, concerns, ideals and even utopian visions," he said, noting that "the desire for unity involves the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, the conviction that we have an immense treasure to share, one which grows stronger from being shared, and becomes ever more sensitive to the needs of others."

He stressed that from this comes "the need to work for inclusivity at every level, to avoid forms of selfishness, to build communication and dialogue, to encourage collaboration."

"Our unity can hardly shine forth if spiritual worldliness makes us feud among ourselves in a futile quest for power, prestige, pleasure or economic security," he said.

Pope Francis then turned to the Church's salvific mission, saying that part of her identity is to embrace all nations on earth without discrimination.

Using a phrase he frequently repeats in Evangelii Gaudium, the Pope said that becoming a "missionary Church" means constantly striving to foster communion, since mission implies more than "outreach alone."

"We also need to be missionaries within the Church, showing that she is a mother who reaches out, a welcoming home, a constant school of missionary communion."

Francis then noted the importance of maintaining a spiritual life based on a personal encounter with Christ.

"This encounter leads us in turn to encounter others, to become involved with our world and to develop a passion for evangelization."

He stressed that the unity to which Christ calls us is not a mere uniformity, but rather implies living in harmony amid our differences.

Unity is not something "we can fashion as we will, setting conditions, choosing who can belong and who cannot," he said, adding that "none is excluded." Such a "religiousity of the elite is not what Jesus proposes," the Pope added.

Nor, he reflected, does unity mean we all have the same tastes or gifts.

"We are brothers and sisters because God created us out of love and destined us, purely of his own initiative, to be his sons and daughters … that is the salvation which God makes possible for us, and which the Church proclaims with joy: to be part of the divine 'we.'"

The Pope concluded his homily by praying that Ecuadorians would be a sign and witness of fraternal communion for the world by caring for one another.

When we give ourselves in service to others, "we discover our true identity as children of God in the image of the Father and, like him, givers of life; we discover that we are brothers and sisters of Jesus, to whom we bear witness," the Pope said.

"This is what it means to evangelize; this is our revolution – for our faith is always revolutionary – this is our deepest and most enduring cry."