His Holiness Pope Francis: May we be a Church on the move, sharing the joy of the Gospel

This news was shared from the website of Vatican News.

At the concluding Mass of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, His Holiness Pope Francis encourages us to be like Bartimaeus in today's Gospel and "entrust our blindness to the Lord" in order to be "a missionary Church that walks with her Lord through the streets of the world."

By Thaddeus Jones

Marking the conclusion of the XVIth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis presided over the Synod's closing Mass on Sunday, 27 October, in Saint Peter's Basilica. The Pope gave thanks to the Lord for the "journey we have made together" in the Synod on Synodality that began three years ago with local, regional and continental meetings, and culminated in month-long October meetings at the Vatican in 2023 and concluding in 2024.

The newly restored relic of the ancient Chair of Saint Peter and Bernini Baldachin featured prominently in the video coverage of the celebration. The Pope recalled how the Chair represents love, unity, and mercy, and the call to service according to Jesus' command to the Apostle Peter, while the Baldachin helps us rediscover the glory of the Holy Spirit, "the true focal point of the entire basilica."

Recognizing our own blindness

In his homily Pope Francis recalled today's Gospel narrative of the blind man Bartimaeus who cries out to the Lord, asking to regain his sight. Rediscovering his sight, Bartimaeus joyfully sets out to follow Jesus along the way.

The Pope explained how Bartimaeus represents the "inner blindness" we all can have that can hold us back from "the dynamism of life" and having any hope. This can also affect us as Church, the Pope added, where we can become "incapable of perceiving the presence of the Lord, unprepared to face the challenges of reality" and at times unable to respond adequately "to the questions of so many who cry out to us."

“We cannot remain inert before the questions raised by the women and men of today, before the challenges of our time, the urgency of evangelization and the many wounds that afflict humanity.”

The Pope warned that "a sedentary Church" that "confines itself to the margins of reality" risks remaining blind and will "fail to grasp the urgency of giving a pastoral response to the many problems of our world."

Crying out to the Lord

By remembering that "the Lord is passing by", the Church can be like Bartimaeus as a community of disciples who hear the Lord, go out to seek Him, and "feel the joy of salvation...awakened by the power of the Gospel." The Church in turn does this "when it takes up the cry of all the women and men of the world" who seek the joy of the Gospel, wish to rediscover faith, or are set back by suffering, poverty or marginalization.

This news was originally published on the website of Vatican News.