Pope Francis received this Saturday, March 11 in audience at the Vatican, a delegation from the Spanish NGO Misión América, which is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. The Sovereign Pontiff invited them to focus on the image of Jesus sending his Church on a mission, so that “it may be an encouragement for you to demand respect for every man and for his right to be able to discern the path that God trace him,” said François.
Vatican News
On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of its foundation, the organization Misión América wished to go to the Vatican, to renew its commitment to the Universal Church, which materializes in its work in favor of the missions of America and Africa. . Pope Francis, happy with this initiative, felt that this anniversary was thus approaching what tradition calls “”the perfect age”, that is to say the age of Christ at the time of his passion and his death».
François at the beginning of his speech, invited to “ensure that the three years that separate you from the perfect age are a profound journey during which you can continue to progress in your identification with Christ“. With Christ who said:As the Father sent me, so I send you by opening the Church to the mission».
Aware that the NGO Misión América in its work has come a long way with four key words: visibility, respect, volunteerism and collaboration, the Pope stressed that it might be useful to read them again in the light of this Gospel. of the mission.
“The outstretched hand of Christ, the best refuge”
Referring to an image of Jesus which first shows “his hands and his sideFrançois explained that she summarizesthe “way” in which Jesus was sent by the Father, and now sends us, making visible the reality of pain, sin, death, not to condemn anyone, but to deeply heal humanity , assuming it in his own person“said the Holy Father. Likewise, he considered, by organizing awareness campaigns to make known the reality of Latin America, “our horizon can only be to show the outstretched hand of Christ who, in his wounds, offers us the best refuge».
Continuing Francis, affirmed that Christ always remains attentive to the need, but above all to the person as a whole. True equality, true justice, he says, is not imposing a single, unified path for all, “but to be able to accompany everyone, in their freedom and in their need, so that everyone can respond to God’s call, to his plan of love for each one of us“, estimated François.
A mission with the power of the Holy Spirit
Also relying in his intervention on the Gospel of John, which speaks of Jesus having poured out the Holy Spirit on the disciples, thus giving them the strength and authority necessary to accomplish the mission entrusted to them, the Pope recalled that from that moment, the disciples had the impression of passing to another level, more active and more enterprising. So, “in the same way, and always recognizing that our strength lies only in God», the Successor of Peter invited to «try to give impetus, starting with the Church in Spain, to this vocation of active volunteeringwhich is nothing other than supporting through prayer, work, solidarity, those who, moved by this same Spirit, travel the world announcing the Good News of the Kingdom.
The peace of God who soothes
Speaking also about the gift of the Lord’s resurrection, the Pope pointed out that to understand it, it is necessary to refer to this sentence: “Peace be with you» (v. 21). «It’s something beautiful“, he launched, it means that “the “peace” that God establishes with man and between men transforms our existence», becomes the daily life of walking together, of the search for the good, of the diffusion of love and harmony. It generates, he added, new realities, creates bridges, destroys fears and resentments, the very ones which, as the biblical text underlines, kept the disciples locked up.
To conclude, the Pope wished that this image of Jesus sending his Church on a mission “be for you an encouragement to give visibility to the wounds which are still tangible in his Mystical Body; to ask and demand respect for every man and his right to be able to discern the path that God traces for him“. Also “to work and support the work of all those who have been, like us, sent, collaborating, with all men of good will, to the glory of God, who is none other than the living man».
The NGO Misión América, linked to the Episcopal Commission for the Missions and Cooperation with the Churches of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, was born on November 17, 1993, on the initiative of the Spanish missionary priests of the Work of Hispano-American Priestly Cooperation (OCSHA). They work in particular on the aid and integral development of the most disadvantaged people, relying on the missionaries as a reference, who know best the reality of the countries for which this aid is intended.
