Question 9.144

9.144 With the same energy, Francis criticizes and rejects what he calls “sterile pessimism”. …

Francis insistently mentions this because he is unwilling to let believers be hemmed in by the difficulties of everyday situations. The pope does not want Christ’s disciples to be prisoners of conflicts, disagreements, and mutual hatreds. These days the Church is no doubt going through many storms, but she has survived even worse spiritual or temporal tragedies. It is important for baptized Catholics to keep the beautiful, holy joy of little children. Pessimism brings forth sterility and destruction, whereas hope proceeds from the Holy Spirit. Everyday problems, as weighty as they may be, must not become excuses for restraining our missionary involvement. Christ himself went through very severe trials. The difficulty of the moment can be transformed into strength, and it points to the horizon that will allow us to grow.

It is necessary to keep the faith perspective. Doubt is not Christian. The apostles faced multiple uncertainties, and they understood that they had to go forward without turning back. Christians are called to abandon themselves into the hands of God, who is the true teacher of evangelization.

We will always be fragile, inept instruments; but we must stay the course of hope in God. He urged his people to leave Egypt so as to set out for the Promised Land. In the desert, some wanted to go back, out of nostalgia for “the fish, the cucumbers and the onions”, and especially out of fear of crossing through large spaces that were so inhospitable, but Moses encouraged his brethren not to doubt God and to keep the faith. In difficulties, the example of courageous, intrepid missionaries is still indispensable. How can a priest forget that the ultimate priestly ambition is the salvation of all men?

Francis uses a particularly appropriate image when he calls on Christians to be “living sources of water from which others can drink” (EG 86): ” ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord’ ” (Amos 8:11). “There is nothing corporeal about this hunger; nothing earthly about this thirst”, Saint Leo the Great comments. The pope is right to recall that being a vessel can turn into a heavy cross; but let us not forget that it was precisely on the Cross that the Lord gave himself to us as a source of living water. Indeed, from the Heart of Jesus flowed torrents of love to irrigate a world parched by hatred, violence, suspicions, and wars. …