In an address delivered at the Vatican on July 25, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the need for priests, missionaries, and all baptized Christians to cultivate an intimate friendship with Jesus Christ as the foundation for both vocation and evangelization. Speaking to participants of the Course for Seminary Formators held at Rome’s Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum and to Xaverian Missionaries following their General Chapter, the Pope offered concrete guidance on how to live out this call to holiness and joyful mission, according to Vatican News.
Pope Leo began by drawing a common thread between the two events, saying that though different, both are united in “the dynamism of mission” and the shared challenge of evangelization. “It is necessary that the ‘house’ of our life and vocational journey, whether priestly or lay, be founded on ‘rock’,” he said, according to Vatican News, referring to the solid spiritual grounding needed to weather the “human and spiritual storms” faced by all who follow Christ.
According to the Pope, this solid foundation begins with a personal encounter with the Lord: “We need personally to experience the closeness of the Master, to know that we have been seen, loved and chosen by the Lord by pure grace and without merit on our part.” This friendship with Christ, he explained, must not remain an abstract idea but must shape one’s entire life, radiating outward through witness, behavior, and relationships. As he put it, “we first radiate our personal experience of friendship with Christ, which shines through in our way of living, in our attitude, in our humanity.”
The Holy Father stressed that such witness must be ongoing and intentional, requiring continual conversion. “A concerted effort is needed to look into our hearts in order to see the shadows and wounds that mark us,” he said, adding that this process involves “the courage to abandon our masks and cultivate an intimate friendship with Christ.” Only then, he explained, can a person become an “authentic missionary disciple,” according to Vatican News.
But personal holiness is not the only requirement. Pope Leo also highlighted the need for strong fraternal relationships among clergy and lay faithful alike. “We must work hard on ourselves in order to overcome individualism and the desire to overtake others, which makes us competitors,” he said, calling instead for the building of “human and spiritual relationships that are both healthy and fraternal.”
Finally, the Pope called for greater collaboration between priests and lay people, reminding the Church that “priests must also be trained in this, not to think of themselves as lone leaders, nor to live out the ordained priesthood with a sense of superiority.” He urged future priests to “discern and appreciate in lay people the grace of Baptism and the charisms that flow from it,” and to prepare for ministry in a way that is “increasingly immersed in the reality of the People of God.”
Pope Leo concluded by expressing gratitude to all present for their dedication to forming future priests and evangelizing in wounded lands. “I encourage you to continue on your journeys,” he said.
The Pope’s message underscores that joyful, effective evangelization begins not in strategy but in sanctity — in hearts deeply united to Christ and to one another. As he reminded the Church: “To be enthused by the joy of the Gospel is not just for priests, but for everyone… we can speak of happy Christians, happy disciples and happy missionaries.”
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