In the general audience, he made this appeal on the occasion of the international conference that is opening in New York on this “primary good”. One year after the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the invitation to repeat the gesture particularly on the solemnity of the Annunciation. In catechesis, the relevance of Paul VI’s words on Christian witness in Evangelii Nuntiandi.
Vatican City () – “Water cannot be the object of waste, abuse or the cause of wars, but must be preserved for our benefit and that of future generations.” This is the appeal that Pope Francis made today, addressing the faithful in Saint Peter’s Square at the end of the general audience on Wednesdays.
Recalling the World Water Day proclaimed by the UN for this date, the pontiff quoted the words of the Canticle of the Creatures of Saint Francis: “Praise be to you, my Lord, for Sister Water, who is very useful, humble, precious and chaste “. Mentioning the International Conference on Water that opens today in New York, he said that he prays for the success of his work, hoping that this event “can accelerate initiatives in favor of those who suffer from water scarcity, this primary good “.
Then, thinking of the solemnity of the Annunciation that is celebrated on Saturday, Pope Francis recalled the consecration of humanity to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which took place last year on this day, paying special attention to Ukraine and Russia, devastated by war. “Let us not get tired of entrusting the cause of peace to the Queen of Peace,” he added, and invited “every believer and community, especially prayer groups” to “renew every March 25 the act of consecration to the Virgin.” “She is Mother and she can guard us in the unity of peace. And let us not forget in these days the tormented Ukraine that suffers so much”, he concluded.
Previously, continuing with the cycle of weekly catechism dedicated to apostolic zeal in evangelization, the pontiff had invited the faithful to listen again Evangelii Nuntiandi, the apostolic exhortation of Saint Paul VI that Pope Francis once again defined as “the magna carta of evangelization in the contemporary world”. “Evangelization is more than a simple doctrinal and moral transmission,” he said, quoting Montini, “it is above all the testimony of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, because contemporary man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, or if He listens to the teachers, he does it because they are witnesses.
But the testimony also includes the faith that is professed, “that is, the convinced and manifest adherence to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who through love has created and redeemed us”. Each of us -Francis added- is called to respond to three fundamental questions, which Paul VI formulated as follows: Do you believe what you proclaim? Do you live what you believe? Do you proclaim what you live?
In this sense, bearing witness to an authentically Christian life implies a path of holiness, based on our Baptism. But this should make us aware that “the recipients of evangelization are not only others, those who profess other confessions or those who do not profess any, but also ourselves, believers in Christ and active members of the People of God.” Because the Church too “immersed in the world, and often tempted by idols, always needs to hear the great works of God proclaimed, which converted her to the Lord, and to be called together again by Him”.
A Church “that is evangelized in order to evangelize is a Church that, guided by the Holy Spirit, is called to follow a demanding path of continuous conversion and renewal,” the Pope added. To be “totally turned towards God, and therefore a participant in his plan of salvation for humanity, and at the same time totally turned towards humanity”. A Church, he concluded, that meets the contemporary world dialogically, that weaves fraternal relationships, that generates meeting spaces, implementing good practices of hospitality, reception, recognition and integration of the other and otherness, and that cares about the home common is creation”.
