(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday reminded the faithful that through baptism we are reborn to a new life of grace and we are called to be witnesses of the Gospel before the world.Speaking to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly General Audience, the Pope continued in his catechesis on the sacrament of baptism.
He reflected on how, through baptism we become members of Christ’s mystical body, the Church. “In every generation” – he said – “through baptism, we are reborn to the new life of grace and called to be witnesses of the Gospel before the world. Baptism makes us “missionary disciples” within the communion of the Church”.
The Pope said there is a close bond, then, “between our rebirth in water and the Holy Spirit, our responsibility to live this new life within the Church, in our families and our parishes, and our mission to bring the Gospel to others as channels of God’s grace”.
And he invited us to look to the remarkable history of the Church in Japan “where small communities of the faithful survived clandestinely for over two centuries thanks to the grace of baptism”.
The Pope conclude his address pointing us to this example to “help us to appreciate more fully the profound mystical, communitarian and missionary dimensions of our baptism”.
Text from Vatican Radio website
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