To effectively witness to the Gospel, Christians need to be consistent in what they believe, how they live and what they preach, Pope Francis said yesterday. Source: CNA.
“The witness of an authentically Christian life involves a journey to holiness,” the Pope said.
Speaking at his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square, the Pope underlined that Christian witness must include “professed faith” of what the Church teaches that transforms both one’s relationships and “the values that determine our choices”.
“Witness, therefore, cannot be separated from consistency between what one believes, what one proclaims, and how one lives,” he said.
“A person is credible if there is harmony between what he believes and how he lives. Many Christians only say they believe but live something else … and this is hypocrisy.”
The Pope asked the crowd to reflect on three questions first posed by Paul VI in his apostolic exhortation on evangelisation in the modern world, Evangelii nuntiandi: “Do you believe what you are proclaiming? Do you live what you believe? Do you preach what you live?”
He emphasised that holiness is “not reserved for a few” but is “a gift from God that demands to be received and made to bear fruit for ourselves and for others.”
“Paul VI teaches that the zeal for evangelisation springs from holiness, springs from a heart that is full of God,” he said.
FULL STORY
Pope Francis: Christian witness requires consistency between how one lives and what one proclaims (By Courtney Mares, CNA)
