 In today’s General Audience Pope Francis reflected on the meaning of the Church being ‘catholic’ and what this means for us. The Pope said “We can understand this catholicity in three ways. First, the Church is Catholic because she proclaims the apostolic faith in its entirety; she is the place where we meet Christ in his sacraments and receive the spiritual gifts needed to grow in holiness together with our brothers and sisters. The Church is also catholic because her communion embraces the whole human race, and she is sent to bring to the entire world the joy of salvation and the truth of the Gospel. Finally, the Church is catholic because she reconciles the wonderful diversity of God’s gifts to build up His people in unity and harmony.” He then encourages us to seek the Lord’s help in our journey of faith saying, “Let us ask the Lord to make us more catholic – to enable us, like a great family, to grow together in faith and love, to draw others to Jesus in communion with the Church, and to welcome the gifts and contributions of everyone, in order to create a joyful symphony of praise to God for his goodness, his grace, and his redemptive love.” So the Pope is encouraging us to live out our faith and grow together in faith and love. He is also encouraging us to continue in the New Evangelisation and draw people to the Church, a ministry that is expected of all of us. And finally, the Pope wants us to be a welcoming Church, welcoming the contributions of all people so that we can create a ‘joyful symphony’ to praise God for all His goodness, grace and love. |
