Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. Bishop | Archdiocese of Louisville

By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Even members of the most remote, smallest, and poorest Christian communities are called to share the Gospel and to do so first by the way they live, Pope Francis told the Catholics of Indonesia.

With tens of thousands of people gathered in Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Sept. 5 — and thousands more watching on screens from Madya Stadium, a smaller venue nearby — Pope Francis presided over his only public Mass in Indonesia. He was scheduled to fly to Papua New Guinea the next morning.

Seated together wearing bright green, yellow, white, blue, red or black t-shirts designating their parish, diocese or Catholic organization, the crowd made the main stadium look like it was built with Lego bricks. The people arrived at the stadium hours early, visiting with each other, singing hymns and lively modern Christian songs and praying the rosary.

Father Zepto Trifon Polii from Barat on the Indonesian island of Papua traveled to Jakarta for the Mass with seven of his parishioners — “we had no more tickets,” he said.

“Although we are little,” he said, “we dream (of playing) important roles not only in the church but in the community. And we have important roles in government and daily life” on the island.

Like many of the priests at the Mass, Father Polii was wearing a brightly colored decorated shirt with a collar. The birds of paradise and drums — tifa — printed on his shirt are religious symbols for his people, he said.

Before the Mass, Pope Francis drove around both stadiums in the popemobile.

In one sign of the official welcome granted to Pope Francis in this mostly Muslim nation, the Ministry of Communication and Information asked Indonesian television stations not to interrupt their broadcasts of the pope’s Mass with the Muslim call to prayer at sunset but rather to run a reminder of prayer time on a banner at the bottom of the screen.

In his homily, Pope Francis urged Indonesian Catholics “to sow seeds of love confidently tread the path of dialogue continue to show your goodness and kindness with your characteristic smile and be builders of unity and peace.”

“In this way,” he said, “you will spread the fragrance of hope around you.”

Pope Francis asked that crowd not forget that “the first task of disciple is not to clothe ourselves with an outwardly perfect religiosity do extraordinary things or engage in grandiose undertakings. The first step instead is to know how to listen to only word that saves word Jesus.”

Jesus’ example and teaching he said “cannot remain as fine abstract idea or stir up only passing emotion.”

Instead pope said “It asks us change our gaze allow our hearts be transformed into image Christ’s heart calls us cast courageously nets Gospel into sea world running risk living love he first lived turn taught us live.”

Putting out sea he said also means “break away from stagnant shores bad habits fears mediocrity dare live new life.”