Pope Francis: Pray that ‘every baptized person may be engaged in evangelization’

Vatican City, Sep 30, 2021 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis is inviting Catholics around the world to pray in October that “every baptized person may be engaged in evangelization.”

He made the appeal in his October prayer intention, shared on Sept. 30.

“We pray that every baptized person may be engaged in evangelization, available to the mission, by being witnesses of a life that has the flavor of the Gospel,” reads the prayer intention, promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

The network released an accompanying video, in which Pope Francis explained the rationale for the prayer intention.

Speaking in Spanish, the pope said: “Jesus asks us all, and you as well, to be missionary disciples. Are you ready?”

“It’s enough to be available to answer His call and to live united to the Lord in the most common daily things — work, meeting other people, our daily duties, the chance events of each day — allowing ourselves to be guided always by the Holy Spirit.”

“If Christ moves you, if you do things because Christ is guiding you, others will notice it easily.”

“And your testimony of life will inspire admiration, and admiration inspires others to ask themselves, ‘How is it possible for this person to be this way?’ or ‘What is the source of the love with which this person treats everyone — the kindness and good humor?’”

Pope Francis established the global network that promotes his monthly prayer intentions as a Vatican body at the end of 2020.

He elevated the status of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, formerly known as the Apostleship of Prayer, through a papal decree called a chirograph.

The pope decreed that the network, founded in France in 1844 and focused on the spirituality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, would now be a papal institution based at the Vatican. It is now known as the “Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network” Vatican Foundation.

Fr. Frédéric Fornos, S.J., international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, said: “The pope’s intentions, which are presented each month, are part of the Holy Father’s prayer and discernment.”

“These prayer intentions, in the context of the Synodal Process that the Church is beginning, as the People of God, are an invitation to discern and recognize how the Spirit of the Lord is calling us to face the challenges facing humanity and the mission of the Church.”

“Let us not forget that the Synodal Process is in view of the mission, of a missionary Church ‘whose doors are open’ (Evangelii gaudium, n.46) and which finds its source in prayer.”

Concluding his video address, the pope said: “Let us remember that the mission is not proselytism; the mission is based on an encounter between people, on the testimony of men and women who say, ‘I know Jesus, and I’d like you to know Him too.’”

“Brothers and sisters, let us pray that every baptized person may be engaged in evangelization, available to the mission, by being witnesses of a life that has the flavour of the Gospel.”