To communicate the faith, we need the most appropriate words and methods, says Pope Francis, but as with all communication, we can’t underestimate the fundamental importance of listening.
Pope Francis exhorts all people to become effective communicators of the faith in the last episode of 2018 ofThe Pope Video.
The video project is an initiative of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
Like Jesus, we must adapt to different contexts when communicating God’s message, Francis explains. We have to know how to listen, and remember the importance of achieving dialogue between faith and contemporary culture.
Let us pray that people, who are involved in the service and transmission of faith, may find, in their dialogue with culture, a language suited to the conditions of the present time, in their dialogue with people’s hearts, and above all, by listening much.
The entire Church is called to communciate the faith, not just bishops and priests, but catechists and religious — and families too.
Let us imitate the style of Jesus, who adapted himself to the people He had in front of Him so as to bring God’s love to them.
And again, Francis emphasized, communication implies listening.
If you want to share your faith through the word, you have to listen much and carefully
For his part, Jesuit Father Frédéric Fornos, the international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (which includes the Eucharistic Youth Movement), noted that “the transmission of faith means, above all, communicating the life of the Risen One with words that accompany actions of life that free and heal; it’s heart-to-heart communication.”
He called to mind Francis’ message for the World Day of Missions 2018: “This transmission of the faith, the heart of the Church’s mission, comes about by the infectiousness of love, where joy and enthusiasm become the expression of a newfound meaning and fulfillment in life. The spread of the faith ‘by attraction’ calls for hearts that are open and expanded by love.”
See the video here.
And today we celebrate...