Pope Leo’s Homily for Holy Mass
Chiclayo, Esplanade Pampas de Pimentel – Friday, November 13, 2026
Scripture reading: 9 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20),
Pope Leo’s Homily
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is such a joy to be back in Chiclayo! It’s a blessing to be with you again.
Thank you for your love, support, and prayers, especially regarding my health during this difficult time.
. With God’s help, I am overcoming it.
Looking at your faces, I spontaneously offer a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for being such a great blessing in my life and in my episcopal ministry.
I constantly remember you in my prayers, and I ask that you continue to pray for me. May our Lord Jesus Christ grant me the grace to strengthen my brothers and sisters in the faith.
Today’s liturgy invites us to focus on the urgent and indispensable duty of every baptized person—proclaiming the Gospel.
It also gives us the opportunity to recognize that all Christians, including ordained ministers and lay faithful, are missionary disciples, regardless of our role in the Church or our knowledge of the faith’s teachings.
In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI recalled that no baptized person can remain indifferent to the task of evangelization because it is the fundamental mission of the Church, her deepest vocation, and her reason for being.
In His wisdom, God willed the Church to be “the universal sacrament of salvation.”
Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, the Church fulfills its mission of proclaiming Jesus Christ.
In accordance with the missionary mandate she received from Christ, the Church’s work of redemption reaches the ends of the earth and transforms human reality according to Gospel values.
Proclaiming Jesus Christ is a fundamental task that can make us feel unprepared. As 21st-century missionary disciples, how can we proclaim Christ today?
How can we carry out the mission of evangelization within our families, parishes, and dioceses?
The answer lies in bearing witness to an authentic and consistent Christian life.
First, we must put Jesus Christ at the center of the proclamation of the Gospel and of our lives.
Second, we must remember that consistency in our actions is not only the fruit of our own will but also a grace for which we must ask the Lord.
We are called to collaborate with this grace through personal commitment and effort. Only He has the power to transform our lives, enabling us to proclaim and transmit the faith with renewed zeal.
Thus, we can help our brothers and sisters on our pilgrimage establish a personal relationship with Christ and discover the joy of the Gospel.
A personal encounter with Jesus Christ is a gift that God does not deny us.
This encounter revolves around the Last Supper, when Jesus offers his body as the bread of life and his blood as the drink of salvation
(Matthew 26:26-28 – as they were eating,[a] Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; 28 for this is my blood of the[b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins).
He asked the Father that all his disciples may be one so that the world may believe.
(John 17:21 – That they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me).
Most importantly, the Lord awaits us in the Eucharist and the Word of God.
He is present at the two tables from which we draw life and spiritual nourishment.
He also comes to meet us in ecclesiastical communion and in the fraternal welcome of our neighbor.
There, he becomes present as one who needs our help.
Therefore, evangelization is not about imposing doctrines or relying on effective structures, but rather bearing witness to a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ.
In fact, evangelization focuses on witnessing and community closeness. Without this witness, proclaiming Jesus Christ clearly is impossible.
As Pope Francis reminded us, evangelization is founded on faith and “the beauty of God’s saving love revealed in Jesus Christ, dead and risen.”
– not on convincing discourses based solely on human wisdom or proselytism.
Furthermore, evangelization is a joyful task because the joy of the Gospel is renewed and multiplied when we share it.
1.Joyfully and lively conveying the message of salvation requires an attitude of humility, care, and profound respect for each person’s conscience and freedom.
2.Renewing the practice of “common prayer,” especially at home, can help carry out this task.
3.Remember that Christian families are the fundamental missionary environment because they encourage their members to play an active role in the life of local communities, the great community of the universal Church, and society.
In this context, the reading from the Second Letter of John helps us understand the importance of love in evangelization.
Proclaiming the faith is linked to loving and helping those in the greatest need.
In his letter, John makes an urgent appeal to fraternal love.
For the baptized person, loving one’s neighbor is central to the Christian message.
It is a commandment that we have received from the beginning – that we love one another (2 John 1:5).
This love is expressed through action. It is committed and respectful demonstrating the inseparable connection between proclaiming the Gospel and transforming social structures.
At the same time, love is inextricably linked to truth.
Truth is not a theory, an abstract idea, or a utopia. It is a person: Jesus Christ.
He invites us to model our lives after his and to obey his commandments faithfully.
To achieve harmony between love and truth, we must express our faith concretely by spreading the sweet fragrance of holiness with renewed joy.
Remember, without truth, love becomes mere sentimentalism, and truth without love becomes rigid and cold.
For this reason, evangelization today must address the evolving conditions and processes of transmitting the faith.
In some regions of the world, the transmission of the faith has nearly ceased.
This situation requires us to courageously face new challenges, such as religious indifference, materialism, and selfishness, all of which influence our daily decisions. This commitment calls us to maintain harmony between loving God and neighbor with all our hearts and minds, keeping the truth of the Gospel at the forefront.
Dear friends,
Missions cannot be improvised.
We proclaim not only what we have discovered, but also the salvation we have experienced, the forgiveness of our sins, and the true meaning of life that we have experienced.
As St. Paul said, “Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus.”
I ask the Lord to ignite our love so that we, as baptized individuals and as a Christian community, may share the joy of encountering the Risen Lord with the world.
We must bring this joy to our families, workplaces, and public lives.
We must resist the temptation to relegate our faith to the private sphere.
Through this apostolic commitment, the Church reminds us that we are all living stones, each with a shared responsibility to build God’s temple. Dear brothers and sisters,
The world is waiting for us, and our mission has just begun.
In this first celebration of our reunion at the altar of the Lord here in Chiclayo and throughout Peru, I invite you to commit to sharing the living hope that is Jesus Christ.
Let us “fill to the brim” our villages, towns, and cities with the gospel and proclaim the “glory of the Lord” to all.
May the intercession of Our Lady of Evangelization sustain us as we proclaim the Good News to all creation.