Pope: Christians can be missionaries to those near and far

Published: 2006-10-23

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- All Christians are called to be missionaries, sharing the good news of God's love in their families, workplaces or in far-off lands, Pope Benedict XVI said. "Mission starts from the heart," the pope said during his midday Angelus address Oct. 22, which was World Mission Sunday. "The love that moved the Father to send his Son into the world and (moved) the Son to offer himself for us to the point of dying on the cross, that same love was poured by the Holy Spirit into the hearts of believers," he said. Converted and saved by love, every Christian is called to proclaim "the good news that God is love and, in this way, save the world," the pope said. Because mission is a matter of sharing the love of God, every Christian can and must be a missionary, he said.

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