AAS 74 - Vaticano

Acta Ioannis Pauli Pp. II 435
concrete circumstances of daily life, as it is Ii ved within the context
of Nigérian culture. The différent events will give me ample oppor-
tunities to endeavour to speak to your people, heart to heart.
3. But meanwhile, a reflection at this time on the very aim and scope
of evangelization is a source of encouragement for us as Bishops. By
means of this reflection we can clearly see the specific service that,
together with our priests, we are called to render to the community.
It is always a question of transmitting the Good News—a liberating,
uplifting, satisfying Gospel. In the expression of Paul VI, our role
as evangelizers is to speak about "the name, the teaching, the life,
the promises, the Kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the
Son of God". 4
What a privilège it is for us to proclaim "the name which is above
every name" 5
—the only name in which there is salvation. Our
teaching is truly the teaching of Jesus, a teaching about life, about the
fullness of life, about eternai life. We preach and make known a Jesus
who says : "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly". 6
On the authority of Jesus we are able to hold out promises that will
not deceive, promises such as : "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called children of God". 7
In ail of this we preach a merciful Lord, a
loving Jesus who came not to condemn, but to save and to establish
a King dom, gathering into one the dispersed children of God. At
the core of our message is the proclamation of God's gif t of sal­
vation—the gif t of God's merciful love bestowed through the death
and Résurrection of his Son, our Lord Jesus Ohrist. Yes, through
Ohrist the Son, we have received the grace of divine adoption and
"in him we have rédemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses, according to the riches of his grace". 8
4. As we explicitly proclaim the mystery of a God who saves and
gathers his people into one family, we perceive the need for exemplary
witness—this too being a requirement of evangelization. The lesson of
history confirms that by the action of the Holy Spirit evangelization
4
7
5
6
8
Evangelii Nuntiandi, 22.
Phil 2:9.
Jn 10:10.
Mt 5:8-9.
Eph 1:7.