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.
The twelve apostles chosen by Jesus formed the bedrock of the early Church , and their Catholic identity is deeply rooted in their direct relationship with Christ and the mission He entrusted to them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights this foundational role, stating that Jesus "instituted the Twelve as 'the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy'" ( CCC 860 ). These men were not simply followers; they were handpicked by Jesus, lived intimately with Him, witnessed His miracles and teachings firsthand, and were specifically commissioned to preach the Gospel to all nations ( Matthew 28:19-20 ). Their unique position as eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and their reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, established them as the authoritative leaders of the nascent Church, a reality echoed in the writings of early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch, who emphasized the apostles' authority as repre...