The following is an excerpt from the Pope’s homily in Portugal recently.
“This is the mandate whose faithful fulfillment ‘must follow the road Christ himself walked, a way of poverty and obedience, of service and of self-sacrifice even unto death, a death from which he emerged victorious by his resurrection’ (Ad Gentes, 5). Yes! We are called to serve the humanity of our own time, trusting in Jesus alone, letting ourselves be enlightened by his word: ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide’ (Jn 15: 16). How much time we have lost, how much work has been set back, on account of our lack of attention to this point! Everything is to be defined starting with Christ,as far as the origins and effectiveness of mission is concerned: we receive mission always from Christ, who has made known to us what he has heard from his Father, and we are appointed to mission through the Spirit, in the Church. Like the Church herself, which is the work of Christ and his Spirit, it is a question of renewing the face of the earth starting with God, God always and alone.”
Yes, isn’t it true. God alone is the starting point for all we do. Everything is defined by starting with Jesus who reveals the Father to us in the power of the Holy Spirit.
To read the entire homily, log on to: www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=392808
