Proclaim the Gospel
Saint Pope John Paul II
Editor’s Note. While this Pope speaks directly to a group of priests, he also speaks to the members of the Body of Christ. In the address, the Holy Father states we all need to live our lives dedicated to the word of God. Read this article that comes from the hand of a saint and have let it influence your own spiritual journey.
Proclaim the Gospel
Dear brother priests,
I am happy to have this occasion to meet with you as you complete your course of continuing theological education at Casa Santa Maria, and as you prepare to return home. We know that, during these moments we spend together, Jesus Christ is in our midst because we are gathered in His Holy Name and in fraternity of His priesthood.
A Strengthening of the Spiritual Life
By God’s grace and with the encouragement of your bishops and superiors, you have had the wonderful opportunity for a prolonged reflection on the theology of Sacred Scripture. At the same time, I am sure that you have known the other advantages which the Second Vatican Council sees as linked with courses such as yours; a strengthening of the spiritual life and a beneficial exchange of apostolic experiences (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, 19).
And now you are going back to your people, to all communities in which you exercise your pastoral ministry. You are going back, please God, to proclaim with ever greater zeal The Good News of salvation, which was revealed by a merciful and loving Father, and which the Church, in which you were ordained.
Your Whole Lives Must be . . .
But to be totally effective as priests, your whole lives must be dedicated to the word of God and to Him who is Incarnate Word of the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, our one High Priest.
The word of God is the criterion for all preaching. The power and gladness. The word of God which we are to proclaim, and on which every community of faith is built, is the message of the Cross. As we gather, day after day, week after week, to celebrate this mystery of faith, let us endeavor to present and explain its various aspects, which are so vital for the life of the Church. The healing and forgiveness, the sufferings and deliverance, the victory and everlasting mercy held up to us by Christ.
. . . Dedicated to the Word of God
Like Saint Paul we may indeed be conscious of presenting ourselves “in weakness and fear and with much trepidation” and without “the persuasive force of ‘wise’ arguments”, but with the word of God we do possess always “the convincing power of the Spirit”. And with Saint Paul let us be always ready to speak truthfully to our people. By saying, “your faith rests not on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”. (1 Cor. 2:4-5).
May the lasting results of your course in Rome be a renewed commitment to God’s word. Continue, dear brothers, to study the word of God, to meditate on it and live it. Believe in God’s word with all your hearts. Preach it, in union with the whole Church, in all purity and integrity. And finally, surrender your own lives totally before it’s demands and inspirations.
And may Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, and Mother of priests, sustain each of you in your ministry of the word and in your priestly consecration to Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word, who “became flesh and made his dwelling among us”. (Jn. 1;14).
Pope John Paul II
