Longley: world is not hostile to Gospel but is already touched by Christ’s love

Today, as we come together for the annual Civic Mass, Pope Francis is celebrating Mass at St Peter’s in Rome for the conclusion of the Year of Faith. The Catholic Church has been observing this Year of Faith as a way of celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.  One of the principal aims of that Council was to enable the Church to reach out in dialogue and co-operation with the world around her and to seek partnerships to build up the Kingdom of God. Fifty years on we still need to look at the world not as an enemy that is indifferent or even hostile to the message of the Gospel but as the place where God’s salvation has already reached into people’s lives through the love of his Son Jesus Christ. The Scriptures remind us that God so loved