Excerpt from Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel

Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Francis

II. The delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing

9. Goodness always tends to spread. Every authentic experience of truth and goodness seeks by its very nature to grow within us, and any person who has experienced a profound liberation becomes more sensitive to the needs of others. As it expands, goodness takes root and develops. If we wish to lead a dignified and fulfilling life, we have to reach out to others and seek their good. In this regard, several sayings of Saint Paul will not surprise us: “The love of Christ urges us on” (2 Cor 5:14); “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16).

10. The Gospel offers us the chance to live life on a higher plane, but with no less intensity: “Life grows by being given away, and it weakens in isolation and comfort. Indeed, those who enjoy life most are those who leave security on the shore and become excited by the mission of communicating life to others”.[4] When the Church summons Christians to take up the task of evangelization, she is simply pointing to the source of authentic personal fulfilment. For “here we discover a profound law of reality: that life is attained and matures in the measure that it is offered up in order to give life to others. This is certainly what mission means”.[5] Consequently, an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral! Let us recover and deepen our enthusiasm, that “delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow… And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervour, who have first received the joy of Christ”.[6]

Bonum est diffusivum sui

As Dr. Owen Cummings would remind us repeatedly in our numerous theology classes with him, goodness is diffusive of itself. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis brings this out at the beginning of his Apostolic Exhortation. He is pointing out right at the start the nature of goodness, the source of which is in the Good God who created all things and through whom goodness was restored in Jesus His son. Naturally goodness seeks to grow within us. The life of God and the light which He has given us is meant to be nurtured and shared.

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and glory for your people Israel.” Luke 2:29-32

As we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord in the temple this Sunday, we hear the righteous and devout man, Simeon, proclaim these words with great joy. Christ is the light come into the world, the light which illumines hearts and urges them on to goodness. Christ is the light that dispels the darkness of doubt and fear, the light that drives away the night of despair. In His light we see who we truly are and we are then able to see His goodness in others. The more we nurture that goodness in ourselves, the more we are able to share it with others. With all his heart Simeon longed to see the Savior, and he was given this favor from God. The light which shone that day in the temple for Simeon, shines now for us who believe and the more we seek to live in the light of His goodness, the more we will see.

Fr. Jack D. Shrum