The Passion for Evangelization: The apostolic zeal of the believer

The Pope’s weekly General Audience is normally held in St Peter’s Square on a Wednesday morning. March 29 was no different and thousands of pilgrims from around the world attended to hear the Holy Father’s catechesis…

Summary of the Holy Father’s words

Dear brothers and sisters: In our continuing catechesis on apostolic zeal, we now consider some of the great men and women in the history of the Church whose lives exemplify love for Christ and passion for the spread of the Gospel. We begin, naturally, with the Apostle Paul. Paul’s encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus transformed his zeal for the Law, which had led him to persecute Christians, into a consuming desire to proclaim the Gospel of God’s loving mercy, revealed in the paschal mystery.

Paul’s conversion was truly a profound experience of death and resurrection; reborn in Christ, he became a “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17), now filled with zeal to carry the good news of our salvation to all the nations. Paul’s example shows us that at the heart of all missionary zeal is a living encounter with the risen Lord. It also shows us that zeal for the Gospel can never justify violence or persecution in the name of the God of mercy, who invites us freely to accept his gift of new life by believing in the Gospel of Jesus his Son.

Click here to watch the video and read the complete catechesis