October 20: “Sweet and comforting joy”

As it turns out, the quotation from Blessed Paul VI at the heart of yesterday’s reflection—that “delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow”—is so dear to Pope Francis it is imprinted in his memory.

He has described his personal debt to Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi on many occasions, and used it as the standard by which the Aparecida document he edited should be measured, but the remarks he made during last year’s papal conclave show us just how deep is that debt.

He began his short and, according to many, decisive intervention in the conclave that eventually led to his election with the following words: “Reference has been made to evangelization. This is the Church’s reason for being. ‘The sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing’ (Paul VI). It is Jesus Christ himself who, from within, impels us.”

He quotes the passage from Evangelii Nuntiandi from memory, in his own translation—“sweet” rather than “delightful.” (In that last sentence, he is also quoting St. Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians: “The love of Christ urges us on.”) That the quote sounds just like him, that (fast forward to today) many Catholics see Pope Francis as the pope who has reminded us of the delightful and comforting joy of evangelization, is proof that he is Paul VI’s worthy successor.