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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has released a Message for World Mission Sunday 2016, which takes place each year on the third Sunday of October.

Below please find the full text of Pope Francis’ Message

Missionary Church, Witness of Mercy

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, which the Church is celebrating, casts a distinct light on World Mission Sunday 2016: it invites us to consider the missio ad gentes as a great, immense work of mercy, both spiritual and material. On this World Mission Sunday, all of us are invited to "go out" as missionary disciples, each generously offering their talents, creativity, wisdom and experience in order to bring the message of God’s tenderness and compassion to the entire human family. By virtue of the missionary mandate, the Church cares for those who do not know the Gospel, because she wants everyone to be saved and to experience the Lord’s love. She “is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel” (Misericordiae Vultus, 12) and to proclaim mercy in every corner of the world, reaching every person, young or old.

When mercy encounters a person, it brings deep joy to the Father’s heart; for from the beginning the Father has lovingly turned towards the most vulnerable, because his greatness and power are revealed precisely in his capacity to identify with the young, the marginalized and the oppressed (cf. Deut 4:31; Ps 86:15; 103:8; 111:4). He is a kind, caring and faithful God who is close to those in need, especially the poor; he involves himself tenderly in human reality just as a father and mother do in the lives of their children (cf. Jer 31:20). When speaking of the womb, the Bible uses the word that signifies mercy: therefore it refers to the love of a mother for her children, whom she will always love, in every circumstance and regardless of what happens, because they are the fruit of her womb. This is also an essential aspect of the love that God has for all his children, whom he created and whom he wants to raise and educate; in the face of their weaknesses and infidelity, his heart is overcome with compassion (cf. Hos 11:8). He is merciful towards all; his love is for all people and his compassion extends to all creatures (cf. Ps 144:8-9).

Mercy finds its most noble and complete expression in the Incarnate Word. Jesus reveals the face of the Father who is rich in mercy; he “speaks of [mercy] and explains it by the use of comparisons and parables, but above all he himself makes it incarnate and personifies it” (JOHN PAUL II, Dives in Misericordia, 2). When we welcome and follow Jesus by means of the Gospel and sacraments, we can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, become merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful; we can learn to love as he loves us and make of our lives a free gift, a sign of his goodness (cf. Misericordiae Vultus, 3). The Church, in the midst of humanity, is first of all the community that lives by the mercy of Christ: she senses his gaze and feels he has chosen her with his merciful love. It is through this love that the Church discovers its mandate, lives it and makes it known to all peoples through a respectful dialogue with every culture and religious belief.

This merciful love, as in the early days of the Church, is witnessed to by many men and women of every age and condition. The considerable and growing presence of women in the missionary world, working alongside their male counterparts, is a significant sign of God’s maternal love. Women, lay and religious, and today even many families, carry out their missionary vocation in various forms: from announcing the Gospel to charitable service. Together with the evangelizing and sacramental work of missionaries, women and families often more adequately understand people's problems and know how to deal with them in an appropriate and, at times, fresh way: in caring for life, with a strong focus on people rather than structures, and by allocating human and spiritual resources towards the building of good relations, harmony, peace, solidarity, dialogue, cooperation and fraternity, both among individuals and in social and cultural life, in particular through care for the poor.

In many places evangelization begins with education, to which missionary work dedicates much time and effort, like the merciful vine-dresser of the Gospel (cf. Lk 13:7-9; Jn 15:1), patiently waiting for fruit after years of slow cultivation; in this way they bring forth a new people able to evangelize, who will take the Gospel to those places where it otherwise would not have been thought possible. The Church can also be defined as "mother" for those who will one day have faith in Christ. I hope, therefore, that the holy people of God will continue to exercise this maternal service of mercy, which helps those who do not yet know the Lord to encounter and love him. Faith is God’s gift and not the result of proselytizing; rather it grows thanks to the faith and charity of evangelizers who witness to Christ. As they travel through the streets of the world, the disciples of Jesus need to have a love without limits, the same measure of love that our Lord has for all people. We proclaim the most beautiful and greatest gifts that he has given us: his life and his love.

All peoples and cultures have the right to receive the message of salvation which is God’s gift to every person. This is all the more necessary when we consider how many injustices, wars, and humanitarian crises still need resolution. Missionaries know from experience that the Gospel of forgiveness and mercy can bring joy and reconciliation, justice and peace. The mandate of the Gospel to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt 28:19-20) has not ceased; rather this command commits all of us, in the current landscape with all its challenges, to hear the call to a renewed missionary "impulse", as I noted in my Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: "Each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out, but all of us are asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the ‘peripheries’ in need of the light of the Gospel” (20).

This Jubilee year marks the 90th anniversary of World Missionary Day, first approved by Pope Pius XI in 1926 and organized by the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith. It is appropriate then to recall the wise instructions of my Predecessors who ordered that to this Society be destined all the offerings collected in every diocese, parish, religious community, association and ecclesial movement throughout the world for the care of Christian communities in need and for supporting the proclamation of the Gospel even to the ends of the earth. Today too we believe in this sign of missionary ecclesial communion. Let us not close our hearts within our own particular concerns, but let us open them to all of humanity.

May Holy Mary, sublime icon of redeemed humanity, model of missionaries for the Church, teach all men, women and families, to foster and safeguard the living and mysterious presence of the Risen Lord in every place, he who renews personal relationships, cultures and peoples, and who fills all with joyful mercy.

From the Vatican, 15 May 2016, Solemnity of Pentecost

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(Vatican Radio) Here is the full text of Pope Francis' homily for Pentecost Sunday 2016: 

Pope Francis

Homily during Mass for Pentecost Sunday

“I will not leave you orphans” (Jn 14:18).

The central purpose of Jesus' mission, which culminated in the gift of the Holy Spirit, was to renew our relationship with the Father, a relationship severed by sin, to take us from our state of being orphaned children and to restore us as his sons and daughters.

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Christians in Rome, says: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship, which enables us to cry out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Rom 8:14-15). Here we see our relationship renewed: the paternity of God is re-established in us thanks to the redemptive work of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is given to us by the Father and leads us back to the Father. The entire work of salvation is one of “re-generation”, in which the fatherhood of God, through the gift of the Son and the Holy Spirit, frees us from the condition of being orphans into which we had fallen. In our own day also, we see various signs of our being orphans: in the interior loneliness which we feel even when we are surrounded by people, a loneliness which can become an existential sadness; in the attempt to be free of God, even if accompanied by a desire for his presence; in the all-too-common spiritual illiteracy which renders us incapable of prayer; in the difficulty in grasping the truth and reality of eternal life as that fullness of communion which begins on earth and reaches full flower after death; in the effort to see others as “brothers” and “sisters”, since we are children of the same Father; and other such signs.

Being children of God runs contrary to all this and is our primordial vocation. We were made to be God’s children, it is in our DNA. But this filial relationship was ruined and required the sacrifice of God’s only-begotten Son in order to be restored. From the immense gift of love which is Jesus’ death on the cross, the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon humanity like a vast torrent of grace. Those who by faith are immersed into this mystery of regeneration are reborn to the fullness of filial life.

“I will not leave you orphans”. Today, on the feast of Pentecost, Jesus’ words remind us also of the maternal presence of Mary in the Upper Room. The Mother of Jesus is with the community of disciples gathered in prayer: she is the living remembrance of the Son and the living invocation of the Holy Spirit. She is the Mother of the Church. We entrust to her intercession, in a particular way, all Christians, families and communities that at this moment are most in need of the Spirit, the Paraclete, the Defender and Comforter, the Spirit of truth, freedom and peace.

The Spirit, as Saint Paul says, unites us to Christ: “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom 8:9). Strengthening our relationship of belonging to the Lord Jesus, the Spirit enables us to enter into a new experience of fraternity. By means of our universal Brother – Jesus – we can relate to one another in a new way; no longer as orphans, but rather as children of the same good and merciful Father. And this changes everything! We can see each other as brothers and sisters whose differences can only increase our joy and wonder at sharing in this unique fatherhood and brotherhood.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis focused on the Feast of Pentecost during his remarks before the Regina Coeli prayer on Sunday.

The day’s liturgy, he said, “invites us to open our minds and our hearts to the gift of the Holy Spirit . . . the first and principle gift that He has obtained with His Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven.”

In the Gospel, Jesus says to His disciples, “If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete to be with you always.” These words, the Pope said, “remind us above all that love for a person, and also for the Lord, is shown not with words but with facts.” The command to keep and observe the commandments must likewise be understood in such a way that they affect our whole life. In fact, the Pope said, “being Christians does not primarily mean pertaining to a certain culture or adhering to a certain doctrine, but rather, joining one’s very life, in every aspect, to the person of Jesus, and, through Him, to the Father.” It is precisely for this reason that Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit: it is through the gift of the Spirit, “the love which unites the Father and the Son, and proceeds from them,” that we are able to live the very life of Jesus.

But “the Holy Spirit also exercises a function of teaching and memory.” Pope Francis explained that the Holy Spirit does not bring a teaching different from that of Jesus, but helps make Jesus’ teaching present and active in our lives.

The Holy Father concluded his remarks with the prayer that the Blessed Virgin Mary “might obtain for us the grace of being strongly animated by the Holy Spirit, that we might bear witness to Christ with evangelical frankness, and open ourselves more and more to the fullness of His love.”

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Vatican City, May 15, 2016 / 02:51 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Although sin separates us from God, Pope Francis stressed on the feast of Pentecost that we haven’t been left as orphans, but that thanks to Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can reconcile with the Lord and continue to live as his children.

“The central purpose of Jesus’ mission, which culminated in the gift of the Holy Spirit, was to renew our relationship with the Father, a relationship severed by sin, to take us from our state of being orphaned children and to restore us as his sons and daughters,” the Pope said May 15.

“We were made to be God’s children, it is in our DNA,” he said, explaining that “the Spirit is given to us by the Father and leads us back to the Father.”

Dressed in red vestments traditional for the solemnity of Pentecost, which celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit onto Mary and the Apostles, Pope Francis made these remarks during Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Quoting St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, he told those present that “all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship.”

Francis explained that the entire process of salvation has been one of “regeneration” in which God’s fatherhood frees us from the state to which sin has caused us to fall: namely, that of being orphans.

Even today we see various signs of being orphans, including “the interior loneliness which we feel even when we are surrounded by people, a loneliness which can become an existential sadness,” he said.

We also see these signs “in the attempt to be free of God, even if accompanied by a desire for his presence; in the all-too-common spiritual illiteracy which renders us incapable of prayer; in the difficulty in grasping the truth and reality of eternal life as that fullness of communion which begins on earth and reaches full flower after death.”

Another sign, the Pope said, is the effort required to see others as brothers or sisters, “since we are children of the same Father.”

To be a child of God is our “primordial vocation” and contradicts all of these signs, he said, noting how this relationship was “ruined” by sin and restored by the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

From the “immense gift of love which is Jesus’ death on the cross,” the Holy Spirit has been poured out on humanity “like a vast torrent of grace,” he said, adding that “those who by faith are immersed into this mystery of regeneration are reborn to the fullness of filial life.”

Pope Francis pointed to Jesus’ assurance to the apostles that “I will not leave you orphans,” and said that on the feast of Pentecost these words serve as a reminder of the maternal presence of Mary, who was in the Upper Room with the apostles when the Holy Spirit descended.

Mary the Mother of Jesus is with the community in prayer, he said, explaining that “she is the living remembrance of the Son and the living invocation of the Holy Spirit.”

“She is the Mother of the Church,” he said, and entrusted all Christians, families and communities in need of the Holy Spirit to her intercession.

Francis closed his homily noting how the Holy Spirit strengthens our relationship with Jesus enables us “to enter into a new experience of fraternity” with him and with each other.

“By means of our universal Brother – Jesus – we can relate to one another in a new way; no longer as orphans, but rather as children of the same good and merciful Father.”

“This changes everything!” he said, explaining that “we can see each other as brothers and sisters whose differences can only increase our joy and wonder at sharing in this unique fatherhood and brotherhood.”

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Vatican City, May 15, 2016 / 04:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On the solemnity of Pentecost Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit, rather than giving a new message, brings Jesus’ timeless teachings to life and helps us to both understand and live it throughout our lives.

“The Holy Spirit exercises a role of teaching and memory...the Holy Spirit doesn't bring a different teaching, but makes that of Jesus alive and active, so that the time that the passage of time does not erase it or make it fade,” the Pope said May 15.

“He grafts this teaching into our hearts, helps us to interiorize it, making become part of us, flesh of our flesh,” the Pope continued, adding that at the same time, the Spirit “prepares the heart so that it is able to truly receive the words and example of the Lord.”

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square for his final Regina Coeli of the liturgical year, which he prayed after presiding over Mass for the solemnity of Pentecost inside the Basilica.

In his address, Francis told pilgrims that the day’s liturgy serves as a reminder to open our minds and hearts to the Holy Spirit, who Jesus promised to send to his disciples and is “the first and primary gift he has obtained for us with his Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.”

Jesus himself prayed for the Holy Spirit during the Last Supper when he told his disciples that “if you love me, keep my commandments; and I will pray to the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.”

These words, the Pope said, remind us that both love for God and for other people “is not demonstrated with words, but with deeds.” He said that “to keep the commandments” ought to be understood in an existential sense “so that one's whole life is involved.”

To be a Christian, he said, “doesn't primarily mean to belong to a certain culture or to adhere to a certain doctrine, but rather to bind one's own life, in every aspect, to the person of Jesus and, through him, to the Father.”

Thanks to the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is “the love that unites the Father and the Son and who proceeds from them, all of us can life the same life as Jesus,” he said, adding that the Holy Spirit teaches us “the only essential thing: to love as God loved.”

When promising the Holy Spirit, Jesus refers to him as “another Counselor,” Francis observed, explaining that Jesus himself is the first.

The Spirit, then, is a Consoler, Advocate and Intercessor who “assists us, defends us, and is by our side on the path of life and in the fight for good and against evil.”

Francis closed his address by turning to Mary, and asked her intercession in obtaining for all “the grace of being strongly animated by the Holy Spirit in order to bear witness to Christ with evangelic frankness and open ourselves increasingly to the fullness of his love.”

After his speech, the Pope drew attention to the 90th World Missionary Day, which will be celebrated Oct. 23, 2016, and prayed that the Holy Spirit would give strength to all missionaries and support the mission of the Church throughout the world.

His message for the event, published May 15, is titled "Missionary Church, Witness of Mercy."

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