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199802
February 1998
1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Paul is the "Apostle to the Nations", the one who without exaggerating could claim to have done more than all the other apostles. His whole life puts into practice the command of the Risen Christ: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Mt. 28, 19.) At the same time he even confronted Peter and the elders of the Church in order to demand that nothing unnecessary should be imposed on people. He knows that God respects human freedom. Everyone is invited to stay "in the same condition in life as when Christ found them." No origin or situation in life should be despised. Only faith, only trust is necessary. And it is the same Paul who affirms: "I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words." Yes, for Paul faith can only be aroused by the action of the Spirit. Convincing speeches or extraordinary manifestaions alone do not make a solid basis for faith.

Paul opens for us the way of mission as bearing witness. To bring the Gospel to someone can be nothing other than a bringing to birth into fullness of life. By a look of kindness, we can help an expectancy to open up in someone. By recognizing and bearing witness to the free gift of God, we can make a way for them to dare to give themselves.

Mission also means recognizing with gratitude the action of the Holy Spirit who goes before us and who is present in every human being. When I discover what has been given to others, my life is enriched. When I bear witness to the thing for which I give my life, accepting that the essential is transmitted even through my poverty, a deep communion based on the essential grows up.

Who are the people who have aroused and helped to develop in me a capacity to trust and to give myself?

How can I discern the action of the Holy Spirit in those around me?