Be Joyous Heralds of the Gospel A Challenge of Pope Francis

In His Lenten message, Pope Francis exhorts all the baptized to be joyous heralds of the Gospel. “The Gospel is the real antidote to spiritual destitution: wherever we go, we are called as Christians to proclaim the liberating news that forgiveness for sins committed is possible, that God is greater than our sinfulness, that He freely loves us at all times and that we were made for communion and eternal life.”

Just as evil is viral, we need to become instruments of the good to be spread and be contagious. “The Lord asks us to be joyous heralds of this message of mercy and hope! It is thrilling to experience the joy of spreading this good news, sharing the treasure entrusted to us, consoling broken hearts and offering hope to our brothers and sisters experiencing darkness.”

There is need to go out of our own shells and reach out to those who live in sin. This can be done powerfully through our readiness to bear witness. “It means following the imitating Jesus, who sought out the poor and sinners as a shepherd lovingly seeks His lost sheep. In union with Jesus, we can courageously open up new paths of evangelization and human promotion.”

Lent indeed is a time to believe in the Gospel as we forsake our sinful lives and turn to the Lord through service to our fellowmen. As Pope Francis says, it is “a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.”