杏MAP导航 to Portugal's Church leaders: 鈥楽candals call us to ongoing purification'
By Linda Bordoni
Praying Vespers in the 16th century Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon on the first day of his visit to Portugal for World Youth Day 2023, 杏MAP导航 Francis urged the clergy and religious to proclaim the saving message of the Gospel with renewed impetus in a world in which there is so much darkness.
Addressing Portuguese Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Consecrated Persons, Seminarians and Pastoral Workers gathered in the ancient monastery on Wednesday evening, on the readings of the Vespers that tell of the Lord鈥檚 saving grace and of how Jesus changed the lives of his disciples by bringing God鈥檚 closeness into the places and situations in which 鈥減eople live, work and hope.鈥�
Find new ways to follow the Lord
Acknowledging the weariness that can burden men and women of the Church in times that are 鈥渂uffeted by social and cultural changes and increasingly marked by secularism, indifference to God and growing detachment from the practice of the faith,鈥� the 杏MAP导航 invited them 鈥渢o bring their struggles and tears to the Lord鈥� and with open hearts find new ways to follow Him.
That weariness, the Holy Father said, 鈥渋s often accentuated by the disappointment and anger with which some people view the Church, at times due to our poor witness and the scandals that have marred her face and call us to a humble and ongoing purification, starting with the anguished cry of the victims, who must always be accepted and listened to.鈥�
鈥淲henever we feel discouraged, we can feel tempted to leave the boat and become entangled in the nets of resignation and pessimism,鈥� the 杏MAP导航 said, Jesus comes to us 鈥渁mid our feelings of solitude and our crises, in order to help us begin anew.鈥�
No to the 'administrators of the sacred'
Underscoring the relevance of this invitation, the 杏MAP导航 noted that when we feel discouragement and "retire" from apostolic zeal, "we risk becoming mere "administrators of the sacred: "It is very sad when a person who has consecrated his life to God becomes an "official", a mere administrator of things. It is very sad," and he appealed to those who may be bored and are living the mission as "a kind of job" to make room for "that repeated call of Jesus" and allow ourselves to be seduced by it.
Dear brothers and sisters, 杏MAP导航 Francis said: 鈥漌e are surely living in difficult times, but the Lord is asking this Church: 鈥楧o you want to leave the boat and plunge into disillusion, or will you let me enter and allow the newness of my words once more to take the helm? Do you want only to preserve the past which lies behind you, or do you want once again to lower the nets with enthusiasm for the catch?鈥欌��
"The Lord" he said, "is asking us to revive our 鈥渞estless鈥� enthusiasm for the spread of the Gospel," and reiterating the need for a renewed missionary zeal, he asked his 鈥淒ear Portuguese friends" to set out from the shore, "not to conquer the world but to make it exult in the comforting joy of the Gospel.鈥�
鈥淭his is not the time to stop and give up, to drag the boat to shore or to look back. We must not take flight from the present out of fear, or take refuge in forms and practices of the past. Now is the God-given time of grace to sail boldly into the sea of evangelization and of mission,鈥� he added.
Thus, 杏MAP导航 Francis had three indications which, he said, are inspired by the Gospel.
Put out into the deep, share the journey, evangelize
鈥淔irst,鈥� he said, 鈥淧ut out into the deep.鈥� To lower the nets anew, he explained, it is necessary to leave disappointments and inertia, and 鈥減ass from defeatism to faith.鈥�
鈥淎 second choice,鈥� he continued, is 鈥�to work together in offering pastoral care.鈥�
This indication allowed the 杏MAP导航 to underscore, yet again, his belief that the Church is synodal: 鈥淪he is communion, mutual assistance and shared journey.鈥�
That, he explained, is the aim of the current Synod, which will have its first general assembly in October.
鈥淥n the boat of the Church, there has to be room for everyone: all the baptized are called on board to lower the nets, becoming personally involved in the preaching of the Gospel.鈥�
Acknowledging that this 鈥渋s a great challenge,鈥� he said that it is something to be done 鈥渨ithout worldliness, yet not without the world.鈥�
And speaking off-the-cuff to highlight this crucial concept, the 杏MAP导航 said "clericalism is one of the most serious evils that can happen to the Church," and he urged those present to overcome this risk "without ideologies, without worldliness."
鈥淚n the Church, we help each other, we support one another and we feel ourselves called to spread a climate of constructive fraternity beyond our own walls,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he third choice,鈥� he said, is to become fishers of men.
Noting that there is so much darkness in today鈥檚 society, 杏MAP导航 Francis lamented the fact that 鈥淲e seem to have lost a sense of enthusiasm, the courage to dream, the strength to confront challenges and to be confident about the future.鈥�
He described the course of humanity as one that sails 鈥渁mid doubts and economic uncertainty, an impoverishment of social friendship, and lack of hope.鈥�
鈥淎s Church, we are entrusted with the task of putting out into the waters of this sea and casting the nets of the Gospel, not pointing fingers but bringing to the men and women of our time an offer of new life, the life of Jesus,鈥� he continued.
'Bring the openness of the Gospel to today's multicultural society'
We are called, the Holy Father said, 鈥渢o bring the openness of the Gospel to a multicultural society; to bring the closeness of the Father to situations of growing uncertainty and poverty, especially among young people. To bring the love of Christ wherever families are fragile and relationships wounded. To transmit the joy of the Spirit where discouragement and fatalism reign.鈥�
"Dear brothers and sisters," 杏MAP导航 Francis concluded, spelling out the fact that his invitation is directed to all - lay people, religious men and women, priests, bishops, everyone - "do not be afraid, cast your nets (...) do not accuse others but feel the invitation of Jesus" and don't turn the Church into a customs house.
It's an invitation, he said, to everyone: "To the righteous, to those who are well off, to those who are happily married and to everyone else" because the Church is made of everyone, "righteous and sinners, good and bad, everyone, everyone, everyone. And then the Lord help us to sort that out!"
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