Oct 2002 VOICE OF SHALOM

Mission is dialogue and forgiveness The Church, faithful to the Lord's command, continues to proclaim and spread his peace. Through evangelization believers help people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters and, as pilgrims on this earth, although on different paths, we are all on our way to the common Homeland which God, through ways known only to him, does not cease to indicate to us. The main road of mission is sincere dialogue (cf. Ad gentes, n. 7; Nostra aetate, n. 2), "dialogue does not originate from tactical concerns of self-interest" (Redemptoris missio, n. 56) nor is it an end in itself. Dialogue, instead, speaks to others with respect and understanding, stating the principles in which we believe and proclaiming with love the most profound truths of the faith which are joy, hope and meaning of life. In fact dialogue is the realization of a spiritual impulse leading "o inner purification and conversion which, if pursued with docility to the Holy Spirit, will be spiritually fruitful" (ibid., n. 56). Commitment for attentive and respectful dialogue is an indispensable condition for authentic witness of God's saving love. This dialogue is linked closely with readiness to forgive, because a person who forgives opens the hearts of others and learns to love and understand others entering into harmony with them. Because the act of pardoning, after the example of Jesus, challenges and opens hearts, heals the wounds of sin and division and creates real communion. Pope John Paul II

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