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Pope Francis Catechesis 9
Saint Peter’s Square – Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Catechesis. The passion for evangelization:
the apostolic zeal of the believer. 9. Witnesses: Saint Paul. 2
Ephesians (6:13-15)
Take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to withstand in that evil day and having done everything to stand firm. Get up, then, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist and put on the breastplate of righteousness and put on the shoes for your feet, put on everything that makes you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.
The Gospel is proclaimed by moving, by walking, by going
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Having seen, two weeks ago, St Paul’s personal zeal for the Gospel, we can now reflect more deeply on the evangelical zeal that he himself speaks of it and describes it in some of his letters.
From his own experience, Paul is not unaware of the danger of a distorted zeal, that is misdirected. He himself had fallen into this danger before the providential fall on the road to Damascus. Sometimes we have to deal with a misdirected zeal, a stubborn insistence on the observance of purely human and obsolete norms for the Christian community. “They make much of you,” writes the Apostle, “but for no good purpose” (Gal 4:17). We cannot ignore the zeal with which some, even within the Christian community itself, pursue the wrong goals; one can boast of a false evangelical zeal while in fact pursuing vanity or one’s own convictions or a little self-love.
For this reason, we ask ourselves, what are the characteristics of true evangelical zeal according to Paul? The text we heard at the beginning seems useful for this, a list of “weapons” that the Apostle indicates for the spiritual warfare. Among them is the readiness to spread the Gospel, which some have translated as “zeal” – this person is zealous to advance these ideas, these things – and which is referred to as a “shoe”.
Why? How does zeal for the Gospel relate to what is worn on the feet?
This metaphor picks up on a text from the prophet Isaiah, who says this: “How beautiful on the mountains are / the feet of him who brings good news, / who brings peace, who brings good tidings, who brings salvation / who says to Zion: ‘Your God reigns’” (52:7).
Again, we find reference to the feet of a herald of good news. Why so?
Because the one who goes to proclaim must move, must walk!
But we also note that, in this text, Paul speaks of footwear as part of a suit of armor, following the analogy of the equipment of a soldier going into battle: in battle it was essential to have stability of one one’s feet in order to avoid the pitfalls of the terrain – because the enemy often littered the battlefield with traps – and to have the strength to run and move in the right direction.
So the footwear is to run and to avoid all these things of the adversary.
Evangelical zeal is the foundation upon which the proclamation rests, and heralds are somewhat like the feet of the Body of Christ which is the Church.
There is no proclamation without movement, without going out, without initiative. That is to say, there is no Christian who is not on the move; there is no Christian who does not go out of himself to set out and carry the proclamation.
There is no proclamation without movement, without walking.
One does not proclaim the Gospel standing still, locked in an office, at one’s desk or at one’s computer, arguing like ‘keyboard warriors’ replacing the creativity of the proclamation with ‘copy-and-paste’ ideas taken from ‘here and there’.
The Gospel is proclaimed by moving, by walking, by going.
The term Paul uses to denote the shoes of those who bear the gospel is a Greek word that means readiness, preparation, alacrity.
It is the opposite of sloppiness, which is incompatible with love.
In fact, Paul says elsewhere: “Never slacken in your zeal, be afire with the Spirit, serve the Lord” (Rom 12:11).
This was the attitude required in the Book of Exodus to celebrate the sacrifice of the Passover deliverance: “Thus shall you eat it: girded with your loins, with your sandals on your feet, and with your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
For that night I will pass through the land of Egypt” (12:11-12a).
A herald is ready to go, and knows that the Lord passes by in a surprising way.
He or she must therefore be free of plans and prepared for an unexpected and new action: prepared for surprises.
The one who proclaims the Gospel cannot be fossilized in the cages of plausibility or of the idea that “it has always been done this way,” but is ready to follow a wisdom that is not of this world, as Paul says when he speaks of himself: “My speech and my message were not in wisdom of words, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God’ (1 Cor 2:4-5).
For this reason, brothers and sisters, it is important to have this readiness for the newness of the Gospel, this attitude of dynamism, of taking the initiative, of being first.
It means not missing the opportunities to proclaim the Gospel of peace, that peace which Christ knows how to give more and better than the world gives.
And for this reason I exhort you to be evangelizers who move without fear, who go forward to bring the beauty of Jesus, to bring the newness of Jesus who changes everything. “Yes, Father, He is changing the calendar, because now we count the years that begin with Jesus…” But does He also change the heart?
And are you willing to let Jesus change your heart?
And are you a lukewarm Christian, who does not move?
Think about it: Are you an enthusiast for Jesus, are you moving forward?
Think about it a bit.
Summary of the Holy Father’s words
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our continuing catechesis on apostolic zeal, we have reflected on the example of the Apostle Paul.
From his earlier experience as a persecutor of the Church, Paul was well aware of the danger of misguided zeal, or a zeal motivated not by love for Christ but by vanity or self-assertion.
Paul teaches that authentic zeal for the gospel is instead centred entirely on Christ and the power of his resurrection.
Throughout his letters, Paul uses the image of putting on the “armor of God” and exhorts his listeners to have their “feet shod” in readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace (cf. Eph 6:13).
The image is eloquent, because the feet of an evangelist must be firmly planted and yet constantly in motion, always ready to face new situations in an effort to proclaim the Good News with creativity and conviction.
May each of us, in the circumstances of our daily lives, be eager to discern when and how best to proclaim the risen Jesus and his promise of the fullness of life and peace.
