Vatican City, Jul 8, 2007 / 06:51 am
The Pope took the occasion of today's gospel to remind Christians that by their baptism they are all called to evangelize.
“Dear Brothers and Sisters,” the pope began, to a smaller than usual crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square, “today the Gospel presents Jesus who sends the seventy two disciples into the villages that he is going to visit, so that they may prepare the people.”
“The evangelist Luke underlines that the mission is not reserved to the twelve Apostles,” the Holy Father said. “There is work for all in the Lord's vineyards.”
Furthermore, “Jesus does not limit himself to sending out: he also gives the disciples precise instructions on their behavior...he sends them “two by two”, so that they may help each other and give a witness of fraternal love.”
That they will be “like sheep among wolves”, Benedict noted, means “that they must be peaceful, despite everything, and to bring into every place a message of peace.”
This is a word for all faithful: “This Gospel awakens in all the baptized the consciousness of being missionaries of Christ, called to prepare the way for Him, with words and with their witness of life.”
Speaking of his own personal vacation plans, Benedict XVI said: “Tomorrow I depart for Lorenzago di Cadore, where I will be the guest of the Bishop of Treviso, in the house which has already welcomed John Paul II. The mountain air will do me good and I will be able to dedicate myself more freely to reflection and prayer.”
“The mountains, in particular, evoke the exercise of the spirit towards the heights, the elevation towards the “high measure” of our humanity, which unfortunately, daily life tends to lower.”
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“I greet you all, and especially those who feel a greater need of taking a bit of a vacation, to renew one's physical and spiritual energy and to recover a healthy contact with nature.”