witness of life. In a particular way, consecrated men and women are asked to   
   listen to the voice of the Spirit who calls them to go to the peripheries, to   
   those to whom the Gospel has not yet been proclaimed.   
    The fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's Decree Ad Gentes is   
   an   
   invitation to all of us to reread this document and to reflect on its contents.   
   The Decree called for a powerful missionary impulse in Institutes of   
   Consecrated   
   Life. For contemplative communities, St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, Patroness   
   of the Missions, appears in a new light; she speaks with renewed eloquence and   
   inspires reflection upon the deep connection between contemplative life and   
   mission. For many active religious communities, the missionary impulse which   
   emerged from the Council was met with an extraordinary openness to the mission   
   ad gentes, often accompanied by an openness to brothers and sisters from the   
   lands and cultures encountered in evangelisation, to the point that today one   
   can speak of a widespread 'interculturalism' in the consecrated life. Hence   
   there is an urgent need to reaffirm that the central ideal of mission is Jesus   
   Christ, and that this ideal demands the total gift of oneself to the   
   proclamation of the Gospel. On this point there can be no compromise: those who   
   by God's grace accept the mission, are called to live the mission. For them,   
   the   
   proclamation of Christ in the many peripheries of the world becomes their way   
   of   
   following him, one which more than repays them for the many difficulties and   
   sacrifices they make. Any tendency to deviate from this vocation, even if   
   motivated by noble reasons due to countless pastoral, ecclesial or humanitarian   
   needs, is not consistent with the Lord's call to be personally at the service   
   of   
   the Gospel. In Missionary Institutes, formators are called to indicate clearly   
   and frankly this plan of life and action, and to discern authentic missionary   
   vocations. I appeal in particular to young people, who are capable of   
   courageous   
   witness and generous deeds, even when these are countercultural: Do not allow   
   others to rob you of the ideal of a true mission, of following Jesu  s through   
   the total gift of yourself. In the depths of your conscience, ask yourself why   
   you chose the religious missionary life and take stock of your readiness to   
   accept it for what it is: a gift of love at the service of the proclamation of   
   the Gospel. Remember that, even before being necessary for those who have not   
   yet heard it, the proclamation of the Gospel is a necessity for those who love   
   the Master.   
    Today, the Church's mission is faced by the challenge of meeting the needs of   
   all people to return to their roots and to protect the values of their   
   respective cultures. This means knowing and respecting other traditions and   
   philosophical systems, and realising that all peoples and cultures have the   
   right to be helped from within their own traditions to enter into the mystery   
   of   
   God's wisdom and to accept the Gospel of Jesus, who is light and transforming   
   strength for all cultures.   
    Within this complex dynamic, we ask ourselves: 'Who are the first to whom the   
   Gospel message must be proclaimed?'. The answer, found so often throughout the   
   Gospel, is clear: it is the poor, the little ones and the sick, those who are   
   often looked down upon or forgotten, those who cannot repay us. Evangelisation   
   directed preferentially to the least among us is a sign of the Kingdom that   
   Jesus came to bring: 'There is an inseparable bond between our faith and the   
   poor. May we never abandon them'. This must be clear above all to those who   
   embrace the consecrated missionary life: by the vow of poverty, they choose to   
   follow Christ in his preference for the poor, not ideologically, but in the   
   same   
   way that he identified himself with the poor: by living like them amid the   
   uncertainties of everyday life and renouncing all claims to power, and in this   
   way to become brothers and sisters of the poor, bringing them the witness of   
   the   
   joy of the Gospel and a sign of God's love.   
    Living as Christian witnesses and as signs of the Father's love among the poor   
   and underprivileged, consecrated persons are called to promote the presence of   
   the lay faithful in the service of Church's mission. As the Second Vatican   
   Council stated: 'The laity should cooperate in the Church's work of   
   evangelisation; as witnesses and at the same time as living instruments, they   
   share in her saving mission'. Consecrated missionaries need to generously   
   welcome those who are willing to work with them, even for a limited period of   
   time, for an experience in the field. They are brothers and sisters who want to   
   share the missionary vocation inherent in Baptism. The houses and structures of   
   the missions are natural places to welcome them and to provide for their human,   
   spiritual and apostolic support.   
    The Church's Institutes and Missionary Congregations are completely at the   
   service of those who do not know the Gospel of Jesus. This means that they need   
   to count on the charisms and missionary commitment of their consecrated   
   members.   
   But consecrated men and women also need a structure of service, an expression   
   of   
   the concern of the Bishop of Rome, in order to ensure koinonia, for cooperation   
   and synergy are an integral part of the missionary witness. Jesus made the   
   unity   
   of his disciples a condition so that the world may believe. This convergence is   
   not the same as legalism or institutionalism, much less a stifling of the   
   creativity of the Spirit, who inspires diversity. It is about giving a greater   
   fruitfulness to the Gospel message and promoting that unity of purpose which is   
   also the fruit of the Spirit.   
    The Missionary Societies of the Successor of Peter have a universal apostolic   
   horizon. This is why they also need the many charisms of consecrated life, to   
   address the vast horizons of evangelisation and to be able to ensure adequate   
   presence in whatever lands they are sent.   
    Dear brothers and sisters, a true missionary is passionate for the Gospel. St.   
   Paul said: 'Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!'. The Gospel is the source   
   of joy, liberation and salvation for all men and women. The Church is aware of   
   this gift, and therefore she ceaselessly proclaims to everyone 'what was from   
   the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes'. The   
   mission   
   of the servants of the Word - bishops, priests, religious and laity - is to   
   allow everyone, without exception, to enter into a personal relationship with   
   Christ. In the full range of the Church's missionary activity, all the faithful   
   are called to live their baptismal commitment to the fullest, in accordance   
   with   
   the personal situation of each. A generous response to this universal vocation   
   can be offered by consecrated men and women through an intense life of prayer   
   and union with the Lord and his redeeming sacrifice.   
    To Mary, Mother of the Church and model of missionary outreach, I entrust all   
   men and women who, in every state of life work to proclaim the Gospel, ad   
   gentes   
   or in their own lands. To all missionaries of the Gospel I willingly impart my   
   Apostolic Blessing".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis prays with the Pentecostal evangelical pastors of Phoenix for the   
   unity   
   of the Church   
    Vatican City, 24 May 2015 (VIS) - The diocese of Phoenix, U.S.A., has   
   organised   
   a day of dialogue and prayer, on the eve of Pentecost, with a group of   
   evangelical pastors of Pentecostal orientation, including the Italian Giovanni   
   Traettino, whom Pope Francis visited during his trip to Caserta. The Holy   
   Father   
   participated with a video message, screened yesterday afternoon at the opening   
   of the meeting (during the night in Europe), ample extracts of which are given   
   below:   
    "'Father, may we be one so that the world may believe you sent me'. This is   
   the   
   slogan, the theme of the meeting: Christ's prayer to the Father for the grace   
   of   
   unity. Today, Saturday ... I will be with you spiritually and with all my   
   heart.   
   We will search together, we will pray together, for the grace of unity. The   
   unity that is budding among us is that unity which begins under the seal of the   
   one Baptism we have all received. It is the unity we are seeking along a common   
   path. It is the spiritual unity of prayer for one another. It is the unity of   
   our common labour on behalf of our brothers and sisters, and all those who   
   believe in the sovereignty of Christ. Dear brothers and sisters, division is a   
   wound in the body of the Church of Christ. And we do not want this wound to   
   remain open. Division is the work of the father of Lies, the father of Discord,   
   who does everything possible to keep us divided.   
    "Together today, I here in Rome and you over there, we will ask our Father to   
   send the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and to give us the grace to be one,   
   'so that the world may believe'. I wish to say something that may sound   
   controversial, or even heretical, perhaps. But there is someone who 'knows'   
   that, despite our differences, we are one. It is he who is persecuting us. It   
   is   
   he who is persecuting Christians today, he who is anointing us with (the blood   
   of) martyrdom. He knows that Christians are disciples of Christ: that they are   
   one, that they are brothers! He doesn't care if they are Evangelicals, or   
   Orthodox, Lutherans, Catholics or Apostolic ... he doesn't care! They are   
   Christians. And that blood (of martyrdom) unites. Today, dear brothers and   
   sisters, we are living an 'ecumenism of blood'. This must encourage us to do   
   what we are doing today: to pray, to dialogue together, to shorten the distance   
   between us, to strengthen our bonds of brotherhood.   
    "I am convinced it will not be theologians who bring about unity among us.   
   Theologians help us, the science of the theologians will assist us, but if we   
   hope that theologians will agree with one another, we will reach unity the day   
   after Judgement Day. The Holy Spirit brings about unity. Theologians are   
   helpful, but most helpful is the goodwill of us all who are on this journey   
   with   
   our hearts open to the Holy Spirit! In all humility, I join you as just another   
   participant on this day of prayer, friendship, closeness and reflection. In the   
   certainty that we have one Lord: Jesus is the Lord. In the certainty that this   
   Lord is alive: Jesus is alive, the Lord lives in each one of us. In the   
   certainty that He has sent the Spirit He promised us so that this 'harmony'   
   among all His disciples might be realised".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope to Christian workers' association: fight for free, creative,   
   participatory and fraternal work   
    Vatican City, 23 May 2015 (VIS) - "We must ensure that through work - free,   
   creative, participatory and mutually supportive - human beings may express and   
   increase the dignity of their lives", said Pope Francis this morning as he   
   received in audience the members of the Christian Associations of Italian   
   Workers (ACLI), who celebrate the 70th anniversary of their foundation this   
   year.   
    The Holy Father took the opportunity to reflect on the scale and urgency of   
   the   
   employment problem in today's world and the need to propose equitable,   
   fraternal   
   and genuinely practicable solutions. "The spread of precariousness, illegal   
   work   
   and organised crime, especially among the younger generations, ensure that the   
   lack of work robs dignity and obstructs the fullness of human life. This   
   demands   
   an immediate and vigorous response", he said, then indicating the four features   
   that should be present in all work.   
    Firstly, work must be free: the true freedom of work means that man,   
   continuing   
   the work of the Creator, ensures that the world reaches its objective. Too   
   often, however, work is a vehicle for oppression at several levels: man against   
   another man; new forms of organised slavery that oppress the poorest. "In   
   particular, many children and women suffer as the result of an economy that   
   obliges them to carry out undignified work that contradicts creation in its   
   beauty and harmony. We must ensure that work is not a tool of alienation, but   
   rather of hope and new life".   
    Creative work allows one to use his or her unique and original abilities. This   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)