‘Together with young people, let us bring the Gospel to all’
ZENIT | October 21, 2018 14:25
Jim Fair
Pope Francis on May 19, 2018, released his message for World Mission Sunday 2018, held October 21, 2018. The theme: “Together with young people, let us bring the Gospel to all”.
“What leads me to speak to everyone through this conversation with you is the certainty that the Christian faith remains ever young when it is open to the mission that Christ entrusts to us,” the Pope said in directing his message to young people. “The Synod to be held in Rome this coming October, the month of the missions, offers us an opportunity to understand more fully, in the light of faith, what the Lord Jesus wants to say to you young people, and, through you, to all Christian communities.”
In his message, the Holy Father stressed that each person has a mission in life and the Church proclaims Christ’s message and shares with young people “the way and truth which give meaning to our life on this earth.”
“This transmission of the faith, the heart of the Church’s mission, comes about by the infectiousness of love, where joy and enthusiasm become the expression of a newfound meaning and fulfillment in life,” the Pope continued. “The Pontifical Mission Societies were born of young hearts as a means of supporting the preaching of the Gospel to every nation and thus contributing to the human and cultural growth of all those who thirst for knowledge of the truth.”
Pope Francis on May 28, 2018, asked for prayers for missionaries, stressing their important work around the world.
His remarks came in a video message sent for the opening of the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies, taking place in the Fraterna Domus of Sacrofano, Rome, through June 2, 2018.
“Why are the Pontifical Mission Societies important?” Pope Francis asked. His answer: “They are important first and foremost because we must pray for missionaries, for the evangelizing action of the Church. Prayer is the first ‘missionary work’- the first – that every Christian can and must do, and it is also the most effective, even though this cannot be measured. Indeed, the principal agent of evangelization is the Holy Spirit, and we are called upon to collaborate with Him.
World Mission Sunday raises funds for more than 1,000 mission projects around the world. It was established by Pope Pius XI in 1926 as a day of prayer for missions.
