On November 24, 2023, Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium celebrates its tenth anniversary.
To live this anniversary intensely, the Holy Father has planned a series of catecheses which, in their final synthesis, will present once again several topics inspired by Evangelii Gaudium. But while we await hearing them from the Pope’s own lips, let us reflect on some ideas that could make us think and bring us back to the source of true and lasting joy!
The challenge of proclamation
Evangelii Gaudium brings us back to the ever-present need to proclaim the Gospel in today’s world: the proclamation of that Good News, of that great joy that is Jesus Himself.
When we speak of evangelization, in fact, we automatically start thinking of works, sermons, homilies, proclamations, announcements, events to organize… yet we must not forget that the Gospel is Jesus. And in order to proclaim Him, it is necessary to have encountered Him and to have been filled with the uncontainable joy that He alone is capable of bringing into life.
Freely you have received, freely give
If joy is the first element that characterizes Christians, and therefore their credibility, it is immediately followed by generosity.
For Christians, bringing Jesus Christ into the world becomes a necessity born of the overflowing abundance of the gift received. When the heart is full, life is fulfilled, love grows… all this treasure cannot be kept just for oneself, but creates the need to share, to bring, give, and make known the source of such fullness, freely, just as it was received. Without calculations, self-interest, or accounting.
The Gospel is not an ideology
Returning to the source of the Gospel, to the joy of encountering Christ, to the overflowing abundance of life that He alone is capable of giving at every moment, sets in motion a dynamic of authenticity far removed from all fear and misunderstanding.
Christians proclaim the person of Jesus, who has nothing to do with ideologies and philosophies. There are no theories to adhere to, but a Person to encounter and from whom to allow ourselves to be embraced, to be saved—and... how much we need to be saved, continually!!!!
Let us reclaim our joy
In a confused, unbelieving, disoriented world that boasts of the “fluidity” of thought as an achievement, Christians themselves can feel lost and, consequently, give up from the outset: let everyone follow their own path without holding out too many illusions that anything beautiful can take shape...
If this is the situation, ten years after the promulgation of Evangelii Gaudium, then the time has truly come to return to the origins of the encounter with the Risen One, let ourselves be invigorated with new evangelical sap, and once again become signs of the constant newness that is Christ!
Everyday life can blossom
The Gospel of Luke recounts the encounter of two disciples with the Risen One along the road to Emmaus; an encounter that filled their aching, fearful hearts with joy. After dining with Jesus, the two disciples cannot keep that fire burning in their hearts to themselves. It is from that encounter, then, that we must set out again. Just as those two disciples awaited the good news of the resurrection, people today, and Christians today, need that joyful proclamation and await it, even unconsciously. Never before have we been faced with such a favorable moment for Christian proclamation, for proclaiming the joy that is Jesus!
Let us therefore accept the Pope's invitation to return to Jesus, to the source of joy, the fountain of life, the fullness of the heart; surely, a new encounter of love will bring new light and new strength to live in Christ, for Christ and with Christ and... bring him to today's world.
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