December 13, 2023 / 04:49 AM
In the General Audience on December 13, Pope Francis concluded his cycle of catechesis on apostolic zeal and passion for evangelization. This Wednesday, he encouraged the faithful to feel called, as baptized, “to witness and announce Jesus.”
Unlike the last audiences, the Holy Father read his catechism before the faithful gathered in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican, a sign that his health has improved and he no longer suffers from the symptoms of a flu that he had been carrying since the end of November and that had caused lung inflammation.
Pope Francis reflected this morning on the Gospel passage in which Jesus heals a deaf-mute near the Sea of Galilee, in an area inhabited mainly by pagans, and to do so he uses the Aramaic word Effectswhich means “open up.”