Let us not forget...the Gospel readings 7/8/07 - Luke 10:1-12, 17-20
The Mission of Christ’s Disciples
For the disciple of Christ the duty to evangelize is an obligation of love. “The love of Christ impels us” (2 Cor 5:14), declares the Apostles Paul, recalling all that the Son of God did for us in his redeeming sacrifice: “One man has died for all… that those who live may live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for their sake’ (2 Cor 5:14-15)…
To be true disciples of the Lord believers must bear witness to their faith, and “witnesses testify not only with words, but also with their lives.” We must keep in mind the words of Jesus: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 7:21). Openness to the Father’s will supposes a total self-giving, including even the gift of one’s life: “The greatest witness is martyrdom” … The basic task for which Jesus sends out his disciples is the proclamation of the Good News, that is, evangelization (cf. Mk 16: 15-18). Consequently, “to evangelize is a grace and vocation proper to the Church, her most profound identity.”
Urgent needs mean that the mission of evangelization today calls for a new program which can be defined overall as a “new evangelization.” I urgently desire to encourage all the members of God’s People, particularly those living in America, to take up this project and to cooperate in carrying it out. In accepting this mission, everyone should keep in mind that the vital core of the new evangelization must be a clear and unequivocal proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ, that is, the preaching of his name, his teaching, his life, his promises and the kingdom which he has gained for us by his Paschal Mystery.
Pope John Paul II
From the Magnificat 7/8/07 - tip to Doctors of the Church and Catholic Video of the Day
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