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The Pope who invites a personal response to Jesus

As Jorge Mario Bergoglio marks the second anniversary of his pontificate as Pope Francis, Fr Gerry Reynolds reflects on how he is the 'Pope of invitations'

POPE Francis invites - it's what he does to us all, and it is the very heart of his message.

"I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them," he says.

"I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No-one should think that this invitation is not for him or her, since no-one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord."

Has any Pope ever made such an amazing appeal to his fellow Christians?

He makes this appeal because he wants all of us to have the joy of the Gospel in our lives, and the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus Christ are filled with joy.

Pope Francis wants all Christians to be people who share their joy, and by their example invite others to a life free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness.

Many are quietly seeking God and are led by a yearning to see his face. The joy of the Gospel draws these seekers towards the Church - it is not by proselytising that the Church grows but by attraction.

What does this renewed personal encounter mean?

It is a free, personal and mature decision for Christ, like that which Christians took in the early centuries on receiving baptism - it made them real, not nominal Christians.

And it means transformation of our lives, Jesus living in us and we living in him. We are no longer alone - we are sharing his life and mission from the Holy Trinity.

How do we renew our personal encounter with Jesus Christ? By surrendering our lives to him, casting ourselves into his loving arms; letting ourselves be found by him, like the lost sheep.

Time and again he will bear us on his shoulders - for God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.

With a tenderness that never disappoints but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and start anew.

To whom is Pope Francis making his appeal? To all congregations of the Church - to the people of every diocese, parish, community and association of Christians. No-one is overlooked in his yearning to see the joy of the Gospel spread and take hold of everyone.

We are to respond day in, day out, at all times. As it says in Deuteronomy 4:7: "When you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise."

This can be done in the places where we live and work and play -everywhere we are, because the invitation follows us wherever we go.

When we take the risk of letting Jesus encounter us, we come to realise that he is waiting for us with open arms.

So let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire us more than his life which impels us onwards.

* Fr Gerry Reynolds is a Redemptorist priest based at Clonard Monastery, Belfast