Pope Francis said the birth of a child is an example of a common moment when someone is overfilled with joy and cannot wait to share a good piece of news.
“One of the first things we do is to share this happy announcement with friends,” he said.
“And, by telling it, we also repeat it to ourselves and somehow make it come alive again for us. If this happens for good news, every day or some important days, it happens infinitely more for Jesus,” he said, “who is not only good news, nor even the best news of life, no, he is life itself, ‘the resurrection and the life.’”
The pope said sharing this good news should be done with respect and love, and never through propaganda or proselytism. But it is “the most beautiful gift to share. Jesus dwells in us even more every time we announce it.”
“When one encounters Jesus, no obstacle can prevent us from proclaiming him. If instead we keep his joy for ourselves, perhaps it is because we have not yet truly encountered him,” he added.
Francis encouraged Christians to ask themselves when was the last time they bore witness to Jesus.
“Can someone, thinking of me, say: This person is serene, happy, good, because he has met Jesus? Can each of us say this? Let us ask Our Lady to help us be joyful proclaimers of the Gospel,” he said.
After the Regina Caeli, the pope wished everyone a happy Monday of the Angel and a happy Octave of Easter, “in which the celebration of Christ’s resurrection is prolonged.”
“We persevere in invoking the gift of peace for the whole world, especially for dear and tormented Ukraine,” he said.
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency’s senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.
