Today, Wednesday, in his general audience with believers, His Holiness Pope Francis continued his series of teachings on the passion for evangelization, highlighting the apostolic zeal, stopping at the testimony of Paul the Apostle, and pointing out that what changes life is the encounter with the Lord.
His Holiness, Pope Francis, conducted this morning, Wednesday, his general audience with the faithful in St. Peter’s Square and began his teaching, pointing out that in the course of the teachings on apostolic zeal, we begin today by highlighting some personalities who presented – in different ways and at different times – an exemplary testimony about the meaning of the passion of the Gospel, and stopped Beginning with the testimony of Paul the Apostle.
The Holy Father indicated that in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, as in the Acts of the Apostles, we notice that his zeal for the Gospel appeared after his conversion. Saul – Paul’s first name – had been zealous before, but Christ changed his zeal: from the Law to the Gospel. His impulse at first was to destroy the church, but later he built it. And Pope Francis continued, asking: What happened? What changes in Paul? In what sense did his jealousy change? He said that what changed Paul was not an idea or conviction, but the encounter with the Risen Lord, who changed his entire being. His passion for God and His glory did not vanish but rather changed, the Holy Spirit transformed it. As every aspect of his life. The Holy Father called not to forget that what changes life is the encounter with the Lord.
The zeal of Paul remained, but it became the zeal of Christ – added Pope Francis in his weekly teaching – and highlighted the words of St. Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians (5, 17) “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away.” And here new things have come.” The Holy Father pointed out that the encounter with Jesus Christ transforms us from the inside, and added that the passion for the Gospel is not a matter of understanding or studies, but rather means carrying out the same experience of “fall and rise” that Saul-Paul lived and that was at the origin of the change of his apostolic impulse. Pope Francis said when Jesus enters our lives, he changes everything, and he recalled the words of the Apostle Paul about the love of Christ taking hold of our hearts.
The Holy Father also indicated that we can do an additional reflection on the change that happened to Paul, who went from a persecutor to an apostle of Christ, and added that we notice in Paul a kind of contradiction, because when he considered himself righteous before God, he felt empowered to persecute, imprison and also kill. , as in the case of Stephen; But when the Risen Lord enlightened him, he discovered that he was a “blasphemer, persecutor and violent” (cf. 1 Timothy 1:13) – as he said of himself – and then he truly became able to love.
At the end of his general audience with the faithful this Wednesday morning in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said: May the Lord help us to meet Jesus, and for Jesus to change our lives from within and help us to help others.
