At Frascati, on Sunday, 15 July, during his 30th Pastoral Visit in Italy, Benedict XVI returned to reaffirm the importance of that great period which the Christian community is about to live beginning next October, 50 years from the ecumenical meeting which will inaugurate the Year of the Faith and the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.
The Homily given by the Pope during the Mass celebrated in the town of Frascati was rich in content.
He recalled the responsibility of those who Jesus calls directly to help in his mission, stating that they must not seek a favourable welcome nor be attached to money, if rejected they must continue preaching whatever God says “and not what men wished to hear”.
The Church, he added, does not “preach what the powerful wish to hear”; she does not seek applause or human power. Her only criteria is “truth and justice”.
He continued by saying that the apostolic mission must always include “preaching God’s word and of expressing his goodness in gestures of charity, service and dedication”.
This is very important for the formation of Christians, especially young people. It is not by chance that Benedict XVI before leading the Angelus at Castel Gandolfo proposed again the historic vision of St Bonaventure of Bagnoregio and the life style of St Francis of Assisi, stressing that the work of Christ and the Church always moves forward.