Vatican: Pope Francis explains 3 features of the divine mission of the Catholic Church: communion, creativity and tenacity

Pope Francis explained 3 characteristics that he considers fundamental in the “divine mission” of the Catholic Church: communion, creativity and tenacity; during his speech to the participants of the general assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMO).

1. Communion

In his speech at the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, the Holy Father first recalled that this Sunday, May 26, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.

“When we contemplate the Trinity, we see that God is a communion of people, he is a mystery of love. It is the love with which God comes to seek and save us, rooted in his being. One and Triune, and it is also on what the missionary nature of the pilgrim Church on earth is founded,” Pope Francis highlighted.

In that sense, the Pontiff highlighted that “the Christian mission is not to transmit any abstract truth or any religious conviction – much less to proselytize, even less – but it is above all to allow those we meet to have a fundamental experience of the love of God.”

In this way, he continued, they “will be able to find it in our life and in the life of the Church, being luminous testimonies, reflecting a ray of the Trinitarian mystery.”

The Holy Father then referred to the importance of the process of renewal of the OMP statutes, within the framework of the “synodal path of the Church today” and remembering the importance of “walking together.”

2. Creativity

On this topic, Pope Francis indicated that “creativity is linked to the freedom that God possesses and that he gives us in Christ and in the Spirit”; and that is why he encouraged “not to let us steal missionary creative freedom!”

Then remembering something that Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan missionary in Japan who was murdered in a Nazi concentration camp and who “is a martyr of charity: ‘only love creates’”, said.

“Evangelical creativity is born from divine love and today all missionary activity is creative to the extent that the charity of Christ is its origin, its form and its end.”

Thus, Pope Francis continued, “with inexhaustible imagination, he creates always new ways of evangelizing and serving his brothers, especially the poorest. The traditional collections for the universal solidarity funds destined for the missions are also an expression of this charity.”

3. Tenacity

“Tenacity, that is, firmness, is perseverance in purposes and action. We can also contemplate this path in the love of God the Trinity, who to highlight the plan of salvation, with constant fidelity, sent his servants in the course of history and in the fullness of time gave himself in Jesus.”

The Holy Father stressed that the “divine mission” must be a “tireless journey” that can reach “even to martyrdom.”

In that sense, Pope Francis remembered a group of Catholics who were recently murdered in the Congo for not wanting to convert to Islam and the 21 Christians slaughtered in Libya in 2015, repeating “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” and whose first celebration was gave in January of this year.

“We are therefore also called to be persevering and tenacious in our purposes and actions. And also live this martyrdom dimension with our example,” the Holy Father stressed.

In the final part of his speech, Pope Francis encouraged not to be discouraged and to help those brothers who fall, reaching out to them with patience and remembering that “it can happen to me too.”