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Pope Francis’ General Audience – St. Peter’s Square – Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Cycle of Catechesis. The Spirit and the Bride. The Holy Spirit leads God’s people to Jesus our hope. 16.
Proclaiming the Gospel in the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit and evangelisation
Corinthians 2:1, 4-5
When I came to you, brethren, … my speech and my message were not in impossible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Dear brothers and sisters!
Having reflected on the sanctifying and charismatic action of the Holy Spirit, let us devote this catechesis to another aspect: the evangelizing action of the Holy Spirit, that is his role in the Church’s preaching.
The First Letter of Peter defines the Apostles as ‘those who proclaimed the Gospel to you through the Holy Spirit’ (see 1:12 – It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced to you by those who proclaimed the Gospel to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to see.).
In this expression we find the two constitutive elements of Christian proclamation: its content, which is the Gospel, and its means, which is the Holy Spirit.
Let us say something about the one and the other.
In the New Testament, the word ‘gospel’ has two main meanings.
It can refer to any of the four canonical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and in this sense the gospel means the good news proclaimed by Jesus during his earthly life.
After Easter, the word ‘gospel’ takes on the new meaning of the good news about Jesus, that is, the paschal mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection.
This is what the Apostle calls ‘gospel’ when he writes: ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes’ (Rom 1:16).
The preaching of Jesus, and later that of the Apostles, also contains all the moral duties that flow from the Gospel, beginning with the Ten Commandments and ending with the ‘new’ commandment of love.
But if we do not want to fall back into the error denounced by the Apostle Paul of putting law before grace and works before faith, we must always begin anew from the proclamation of what Christ has done for us.
This is why the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium insists so much on the first of the two, that is, on the ‘proclamation’, on which all moral application depends.
Indeed, ‘in catechesis, the first proclamation has a fundamental role, which must be at the center of evangelizing activity and of every intention of ecclesial renewal. […]
When we say that this proclamation is ‘the first’, this does not mean that it is at the beginning and is then forgotten or replaced by other contents that are superior to it.
It is the first in a qualitative sense, because it is the most proclamation, the one that one must always return to hear in different ways and that one must always return to proclaim in catechesis in one form or another, in all its stages and moments. […] We must not think that in catechesis the proclamation is abandoned in favor of a more solid formation. There is nothing more solid, more profound, more certain, more consistent and wiser than such a proclamation’.
So far we have seen the content of Christian preaching.
Means of proclamation
But, we must consider the means of proclamation.
The Gospel must be preached ‘by the Holy Spirit’ (1 Peter 1:12).
The Church must do exactly what Jesus said at the beginning of his public ministry:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore he has anointed me and sent me to preach the gospel to the poor’
(Lk 4:18).
To preach with the anointing of the Holy Spirit is to transmit, together with ideas and doctrine, the life and conviction of our faith.
It means relying not on ‘persuasive discourses of wisdom, but on the manifestation of the Spirit and his power’ (1 Cor 2:4), as St Paul wrote.
Easy to say, one might object, but how can we put it into practice if it does not depend on us, but on the coming of the Holy Spirit?
Actually, there is one thing that depends on us, two in fact, and I will mention them briefly.
The first is prayer.
The Holy Spirit comes upon those who pray, because the heavenly Father – as it is written – ‘gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him’ (Lk 11:13), especially when they ask him to proclaim the Gospel of his Son!
Woe to those who preach without praying! One becomes what the Apostle calls ‘a clanging cymbals’ (cf. 1 Cor 13:1).
Therefore, the first thing we need to do is to pray for the Holy Spirit may come. (come holy spirit. . .)
The second is Jesus the Lord.
The second is not to preach ourselves, but Jesus the Lord (cf. 2 Cor 4:5). This is aboutpreaching. Sometimes there are long sermons, 20 minutes, 30 minutes…
But please, preachers must preach an idea, an affection and a call to action
After eight minutes the sesrmon fades, it is not understood.
And this I what I say to preachers… [applause] I see you like to hear this!
Sometimes we see men who, when the sermon starts, go out to smoke a cigarette and then come back in.
Please, the sermon must be an idea, an affection and a proposal for action.
And never more than ten minutes. This is very important.
The second thing – I told you – is not to preach ourselves but the Lord.
There is no need to dwell on this, because anyone who is involved in evangelization knows very well what it means in practice not to preach ourselves.
I will confine myself to one particular application of this requirement.
Not wanting to preach oneself also implies not always giving priority to pastoral initiatives promoted by us and linked to one’s own name, but willingly collaborating, if requested, in community initiatives, or entrusted to us by obedience.
May the Holy Spirit help us, accompany us and teach the Church to preach the Gospel to the men and women of our time in this way! Thank you.
Summary:
In our continuing catechesis on the Holy Spirit, we now consider the Spirit’s role in the Church’s mission of evangelization. The First Letter of Peter describes the Apostles as those who “preached the Gospel through the Holy Spirit” (cf. 1 Pet 1:12). The Gospel, of course, is the joyful message of the coming of God’s kingdom announced by Jesus and confirmed by the Apostles’ preaching of his dying and rising to new life.
This “good news” is the basis for all further catechesis and teaching, including the moral demands of Christian discipleship. The preaching of the Gospel takes place “through the Holy Spirit”, who enables us to speak with conviction and to reflect the message that we preach by the way that we live. Let us pray that in our own day the Spirit will raise up ever more joyful, holy and convincing witnesses to the Risen Lord and the saving truth of his Gospel.
