Pope Francis proposed that the faithful have “Christ-like” eyes and see God in the world and their brothers and sisters, with a “compassionate, welcoming and merciful gaze”.
The Holy Father made this invitation in his message to the sixth American Missionary Congress participants, inaugurated yesterday, November 20, by Cardinal Baltazar Porras.
Pope Francis said that this year of prayer, in preparation for the Jubilee 2025, is an auspicious time for the development of this congress, while recalling the foundation of the mission: “recognizing ourselves as children, touched by the mercy of God.”
“We cannot give what we do not have, we cannot express what we have not lived, what our eyes have not seen or our hands have not touched. The foundation of the mission is the experience of God, the loving encounter with Jesus, He reveals to us the ‘Good News’, He shows us the Father,” he said.
He recalled that “Jesus was a missionary, a powerful prophet in deeds and words before God and all the people” who bore witness to “the greatest love.”
This is the message, the Pontiff added, “that missionaries have continued to translate in every era, in every place, in every language.”
He then stressed that the vocation of the baptized is “to see God, to see him in the world, in one’s brother, to have ‘Christ-like’ eyes and with them a compassionate, welcoming, merciful gaze.”
“A look that conveys the joy that overflows from our hearts. The joy of the disciples after meeting the Risen One, which cannot be contained and impels them to set out on their journey.”
Later, he stated that the Holy Spirit “works this wonder in us and places within us the words that speak to God and to men.”
“Through its life-giving power we can transmit the message in any language, yes, because the Church speaks them all, but above all because she always speaks the same language. It is the language of love, comprehensible to all men, since it is part of their very essence, that of being the image of God,” he added.
Likewise, when fatigue sets in and one lacks the “strength to walk,” he advised not to abandon prayer, “incessantly asking the Father to pour out his Love, his life-giving Spirit, to renew the face of this earth hurt by our injustices and the suffering we have caused.”
“The Blessed Virgin Mary, Daughter of God the Father, Mother of God the Son and Spouse of the Holy Spirit, presents herself as that ark of the Covenant, that first Tabernacle that, receiving Jesus, sets out on the journey of service,” he concluded.