Holy Father compares evangelism to giving birth

Aleteia reports that he used this analogy during his homily drawn from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians on May 3, 2018.

The Holy Father encouraged Christians to always take their time while sharing their faith with others adding that simply giving someone a book is never enough.

In his words, “Transmitting the faith is not about giving information, but about rooting a heart in faith, in faith in Jesus Christ. The faith cannot be transmitted mechanically. ‘Here, take this book, study it, and then I’ll baptize you.’ No. To transmit the faith, a different path is needed: to transmit what we have received. And this is the challenge of a Christian: to be fruitful in the transmission of the faith. And it is also the challenge of the Church: to be a fruitful mother, to give birth to children in the faith.”

According to Pope Francis, faith is transmitted through words, “caresses,” “tenderness,” one’s “dialect,” not with evangelism but with attracting.

He said, “To transmit the faith is not to proselytize. It is something else. It is something greater. It is not looking for someone to support a certain soccer team or club or cultural center. All of that is fine, but for the faith, proselytism doesn’t fit. Benedict XVI said it well, ‘That the Church grows not through proselytism but through attraction.’ The faith is transmitted, but by attraction, that is, through testimony.”

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The pontiff concluded by discussing the Holy Spirit’s role in “transmission of the faith.”

“And the Church grows through attraction … And the transmission of the faith happens through testimony, even unto martyrdom. When a person sees coherence between what we live and what we say, curiosity always arises: ‘Why does that person live like that? Why does he live at the service of others?’ And this curiosity is the seed that the Holy Spirit takes and brings along,” he added.

In other Pope Francis news

Meanwhile, the Holy Father just made a historic move in the Catholic church by appointing not one but three women for huge positions.

Dr. Linda Ghisoni, Sub-Secretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, Professor Michelina Tenace of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and Professor Laetitia Calmeyn, Lecturer of theology at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris are now part of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

These remarkable appointments mark the first time that any woman has ever been appointed to the CDF.