Francis emphasizes the importance of prayer since only with the Father’s grace do people come to faith.
Let us pray today for the dead, for those who have died in the pandemic, and also in a special way for the dead who are, we could say, “anonymous.” We have seen the photographs of the common graves. So many …
This was Pope Francis intention for morning Mass of April 30.
In his homily, the Holy Father focused on the First Reading, and particularly how it was the Spirit of God who sent Philip to preach to the court official of the queen of the Ethiopians.
He emphasized that it is always the Father who brings people to Christ, and He works through Christian testimony.
Thus, the key to any apostolic or missionary effort is prayer, he said.
That is the prayer for missions: To pray so that the Father brings people to Jesus. Testimony and prayer go together. Without testimony and prayer, there can be no apostolic preaching, the proclamation can’t be made. … Our testimony opens the doors to the people and our prayer opens the doors of the Father’s heart to attract people. Testimony and prayer.
And this holds true not only for missions, but also for our work as Christians. Do I give testimony of a Christian life, truly, with my way of life? Do I pray so that the Father can call people to Jesus?
Pope Francis said this is the “great rule” for apostolate in every place, and especially for the missions.
Let us pray to the Lord for the grace of living our work with testimony and prayer, so that He, the Father, can bring people to Jesus.
