The church needs good catechists, who love Christ, live out the Gospel in their lives and courageously go to the margins of society to share the gift of faith with others, Pope Francis told catechists from around the world. "Let us follow him, imitate him in his dynamic of love, of going to others, and let's go out, open the doors, have the audacity to strike out new paths to proclaim the Gospel," he said in a recent talk that was both improvised and drawn from a text. Seated behind a large wooden desk facing his audience in the Vatican's Paul VI hall, the pope joked that he was going to make just three points, "like the old-time Jesuits used to do: one, two, three," he said to laughter. Many in the audience hall took notes, closely following the pope's words. Hundreds of catechists were in Rome for a three-day international congress hosted by the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization. The pope thanked them for their service to the church and said being a catechist isn't a job or a title, it's a vocation, an approach to life. Are you being a catechist for Christ? It doesn't have to be in a formal setting like a classroom or parish hall. You can catechize every day of your life. Talk to you friends, relatives and co-workers and tell them how Christ has changed your life. The gospel reading yesterday spoke of the sin of omission. Not doing anything is as bad as doing evil.

While Pope Francis’ mention of the Church’s priorities in a recent interview grabbed worldwide attention, few remember that Benedict XVI said substantially the same thing seven years ago. Pope Francis' interview with La Civiltà Cattolica published Sept. 19 led to headlines such as CNN's “Pope Francis says religion does not have the right to interfere spiritually in the lives of gays and lesbians” and the New York Times' “Pope Bluntly Faults Church's Focus on Gays and Abortion.” Among other things, the Roman Pontiff had said that the Church “cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods … when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context.” He continued, “The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently. Proclamation in a missionary style focuses on the essentials, on the necessary things: this is also what fascinates and attracts more, what makes the heart burn, as it did for the disciples at Emmaus … the proposal of the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant. It is from this proposition that the moral consequences then flow.” The Pope's words echoed those of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who had made similar comments to the bishops of Switzerland on Nov. 9, 2006. At that time, Benedict recalled that when asked for interviews in the 1980s and '90s, he knew the questions in advance, as they “concerned the ordination of women, contraception, abortion and other such constantly recurring problems. We should not allow our faith to be drained by too many discussions of multiple, minor details,” he said, “but rather, should always keep our eyes in the first place on the greatness of Christianity. If we let ourselves be drawn into these discussions, the Church is then identified with certain commandments or prohibitions,” Benedict said. “We give the impression that we are moralists with a few somewhat antiquated convictions, and not even a hint of the true greatness of the faith appears. I therefore consider it essential always to highlight the greatness of our faith,” adding that we must never be diverted from that highlight. This continuity between Benedict and Pope Francis was noted by Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus, in a Sept. 22 essay in National Review Online. He pointed to a misleading “media narrative,” in which Pope Francis is portrayed as “a progressive, taking the Catholic Church in a profoundly new direction – uninterested in Church teaching on moral issues. Benedict, we are told, is conservative, doctrinaire, and old-fashioned — focused on moral issues,” according to the media narrative. Anderson concluded that “neither narrative is true, because each leaves out half of the story.”

Catholics should not be indifferent to politics, Pope Francis said, but should offer their suggestions, as well as prayers that their leaders may serve the common good in humility and love. In his September 16 daily homily at Santa Marta, the Pope rejected the idea that “a good Catholic doesn’t meddle in politics. That’s not true. That is not a good path,” he said, according to Vatican Radio. “A good Catholic meddles in politics, offering the best of himself, so that those who govern can govern. None of us can say, ‘I have nothing to do with this, they govern,’” Pope Francis told those present for the Mass. Rather, citizens are responsible for participating in politics according to their ability, and in this way are responsible for their leadership. “Politics, according to the Social Doctrine of the Church, is one of the highest forms of charity, because it serves the common good,” he explained. “I cannot wash my hands, eh? We all have to give something!” He noted that it is sometimes common for people to speak only critically of their leaders, to complain about “things that don’t go well.” Instead of simply complaining, we should offer ourselves – our ideas, suggestions, and most of all our prayers, the Holy Father said. Observing that prayer is “the best that we can offer to those who govern,” he pointed to St. Paul’s letter to Timothy inviting prayer for the conversion and strong leadership of those in authority. Even if they believe certain politicians to be “wicked,” Christians should pray “that they can govern well, that they can love their people, that they can serve their people, that they can be humble,” he said. At the same time, the Pope reflected on the role of those who hold political power, stressing the need for humility and love. Reflecting on the Gospel of the centurion who humbly and confidently asked for the healing of his servant, the Holy Father explained that “a leader who doesn’t love, cannot govern – at best they can discipline, they can give a little bit of order, but they can’t govern.” In addition, he emphasized, “You can’t govern without loving the people and without humility! And every man, every woman who has to take up the service of government, must ask themselves two questions: ‘Do I love my people in order to serve them better? Am I humble and do I listen to everybody, to diverse opinions in order to choose the best path?’ If you don’t ask those questions, your governance will not be good,” Pope Francis continued. “The man or woman who governs – who loves his people is a humble man or woman.”

What God asks of people is too difficult and demanding to do without help from Jesus and Mary, Pope Francis said. People need to lose themselves in the contemplation of Mary's sweetness and Christ's suffering in order to receive the grace necessary to live out God's will, he said in his Sept. 12 morning homily at his residence in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. What God asks of people "is not easy to live out: Love your enemies, do good to them, lend without expecting anything in return, turn the other cheek," he said. "These are tough things, right? We, with our own strength, we can't do it. We cannot do this. Only grace can do it in us," a grace that comes from contemplating Christ, he said.

An Italian pastor has donated a used Renault 4 with 186,000 miles to Pope Francis, in response to the exhortation he made to priests and seminarians in July to live simply and humbly. Father Renzo Roca, 69, who is pastor of St. Lucy Parish in Pescantina, wrote to the Holy Father offering to donate his car, according to news reports out of the Vatican. The car was delivered to the Pontiff on September 7 at St. Martha’s Residence, shortly before the beginning of the Vigil for Peace which the Holy Father led in St. Peter’s Square that evening. “When I gave it to him, we got into the car, but I didn’t have to explain anything to the Pope because he told me that he also used a Renault 4 in Argentina and that it never left him stranded,” Father Roca said. After receiving the car, the Pope rode together with Father Roca to meet with the group of faithful that traveled with him to Rome. During the brief encounter, a young man gave the Pope a t-shirt and Father Roca explained that “normally we sell the shirts for five Euros to raise money for parish activities, but we gave it to him for free.” However, the Pope said he would pay for it. “He took out his wallet and gave us ten Euros and asked for change. Luckily I had five Euros in my pocket. Incredible,” Father Roca said. He also joked that a Swiss guard standing nearby told him, “Now we are going to be a little worried because we’ll have to watch what Pope Francis does with that Renault 4.”

As American policymakers debated military intervention in Syria, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl joined Pope Francis and Catholics around the world in calling for peace and a just solution to the violence that has wracked the country and other parts of the world. "Today we pray for those who are a part of our human family and who endure terrible acts of violence. We also invoke God's blessings on those who strive to contain violence around the world," Cardinal Wuerl said during a special Mass September 7 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. "We ask God to give all of us the strength to walk in the light of God's love and that we might be true agents of human solidarity, justice and true peace." The Mass was one of dozens of liturgies and prayer services across the U.S. in response to Pope Francis' call for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria, the Middle East and throughout the world. "As an expression of solidarity with all the victims who suffer, especially the children, particularly in Syria but throughout the Middle East, we raise our voices in supplication for peace and reconciliation," Cardinal Wuerl said during his homily.

While the light of Jesus is powerful enough to cast out demons, it is a peaceful and humble light that helps us carry the cross in our lives, said Pope Francis in a recent homily. “Jesus doesn’t need an army to cast out the demons, he has no need of pride, no need of force, of arrogance,” the Pope said during daily Mass at the chapel of the Saint Martha House. Around 50 people, usually employees from various Vatican departments, are invited to attend each day. Pope Francis took his homily from the Gospel of Luke, which narrates how Jesus cast out demons. The light of Jesus “saves us from darkness,” emphasized the Holy Father, and Christianity is “an identity of light, not of darkness. This Light is not well-liked by the world,” he said. “Today one might think that there is the possibility of having the light with so many scientific things, and so many of the things of humanity. You can know everything, you can have knowledge of all things…but the light of Jesus is something else,” the Pope explained. He noted that “it is not a light of ignorance, it’s a light of wisdom and sagacity, but it is something other than the light of the world. The light that the world offers us is an artificial light, strong, perhaps, but that of Jesus is stronger,” he remarked. Rather than a strong but brief flash, he said, the “light of Jesus is a mild light, it is a quiet light, it is a light of peace, it’s like the light on Christmas night, without pretense.” He added that “the light of Jesus does not put on a show, it is a light that comes into the heart” and “offers and gives peace. However, it’s true that many times the devil comes dressed as an angel of light,” the Pope warned. “He likes to imitate Jesus and do good, he speaks to us quietly, as he spoke to Jesus after the fast in the desert,” he explained. The pontiff stressed that we should ask for the wisdom of discernment to distinguish when it is Jesus who gives us true light, and when it is the devil, disguised as an angel of light. “How many believe they are living in the light and they are in darkness, but they don’t realize it?” he asked. Pope Francis described the light of Jesus as “a humble light” and “not a light that imposes itself. It’s a meek light, with the strength of meekness, it’s a light that speaks to the heart, and also a light that offers you the cross,” he remarked. “If we, in our inner light are meek, if we hear the voice of Jesus in the heart and look at the cross without fear, that is the light of Jesus,” he said, contrasting this with the devil’s false light, which “makes you arrogant” and prideful, leading you “to look on others from on high, to despise others.” We can distinguish between these two lights, the Pope said, by recognizing that “wherever Jesus is, there is always humility, meekness, love and the cross.”