Jesus when sending his disciples out to announce that kingdom, told them: "Give freely." The Lord wants his kingdom to be spread through acts of gratuitous love. Thus, men recognized the early Christians as bearers of a message that overflowed from them. "Freely you have received, freely give." I would like these words of the Gospel to be engraved very deeply on your Lenten heart. The Church grows by attraction, by witness-- not by proselytism.
--Pope Francis (Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio), Lenten Message, Ash Wednesday, 2012
