These comments by Pope Francis to mostly lay employees of the Vatican bank are worth considering.
His assertion that the Baptized have the power of the Spirit to share their faith in Christ in words, as well as in actions, apply as much to Lutherans and to other Christians as they do to Roman Catholics.
Martin Luther spoke and wrote of the "priesthood of all believers" (based, in part, on 1 Peter 2:9-10). All baptized believers in Christ have the ministry of making disciples, of building up the faith in Christ of our fellow believers and of telling those who don't yet know or believe in Christ about "the hope that is in us" (1 Peter 3:15-16).
Because the Holy Spirit comes to every believer in Holy Baptism, every believer has the power to fulfill the call God has issued to us.
I continue to be heartened by the ministry of the Roman Catholic pontiff. While we Lutherans have obvious differences with his Church, we can joyfully affirm that Roman Catholics, like all who confess the Name of Jesus, are our sisters and brothers in Christ!
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