The Holy Father in his remarks to the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization yesterday, spoke of the “crisis of indifference” that carries with it an apathy to the message of the Gospel.
He said, in part:
The crisis we are living through carries with it signs of the exclusion of God from people’s lives, a general indifference to the Christian faith, and even the intention of marginalizing it from public life….proclaiming Jesus Christ, the sole Savior of the world, is more complex today than in the past, but our task continues to be the same as at the beginning of our history. The mission hasn’t changed, just the enthusiasm and courage that motivated the apostles and first disciples should not change…. It is important of make them understand that being a Christian is not a type of outfit that one wears in private or on special occasions, but something living and totalizing, capable of taking all that is good in modernity…. [the] lifestyle of believers needs real credibility, as much more convincing as the more dramatic is the condition of the persons to whom it is addressed.
I love that phrase, “… something living and totalizing.” I have never seen that word used before to describe the demands of Christian life.
Totalizing…..
Let us not be indifferent, for indifference leads, ultimately, to anxiety and loneliness and darkness.
Totalization, as understood in the Pope’s remarks, leads to peace and indescribable joy.
As John Paul II said, Totus Tuus , Completely Yours.
Read the Pope’s remarks in the Italian original at: The Vatican or a synopsis in English at: The Catholic News Agency.
