The celebration of the first year of Pope Francis' pontificate, his style and his questions can help us to ask ourselves: is faith communicable? Since it is a gift, it is rather a matter of arousing openness to this divine gift, which is light and an impulse to live. What should we keep in mind when discussing this with another person or on group, in a friendly conversation or through talks, colloquiums or other more organized sessions of training ?

Pope Francis has given us some guidance in this regard, when he advises that the preacher must prepare himself with four basic ingredients: study, prayer, reflection and creativity. If not, "he is dishonest and irresponsible with the gifts he has received" (Evangelii Gaudium, n. 145). Well, all this applies to every Christian, called to communicate the faith according to his own circumstances and in the framework of his life witness.

The Pope then points out five points. The first three refer to the Word of God. This also applies to all of us, not only to preachers, because the advertisement of faith requires first of all, in the one who announces, a response "of his own" to the Word of God, as a condition for him to be able to arouse faith in others.

a) First, the "cult of truth". That is, attention to the Word of God with patience and interest, without wanting to obtain "quick, easy or immediate results" (n. 146). Before that Word we need humility, because we are - Paul VI pointed out - "neither masters nor arbiters, but depositaries, heralds, servants" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 78).

On that basis, we must try to understand the meaning of the words we read, the language used, the status of the characters it presents, etc., but above all the central message it contains.

"The central message," the Pope explains, "is that which the author in the first place wished to convey, which implies not only recognizing an idea, but also the effect that author wished to produce. If a text was written to console, it should not be used to correct errors; if it was written to exhort, it should not be used to indoctrinate; if it was written to teach something about God, it should not be used to explain various theological opinions; if it was written to motivate praise or missionary work, let us not use it to report the latest news" (n. 147).

At final, it is a matter of knowing what the text means, what is its proper force. We must also "put it in connection with the teaching of the whole Bible," for often the understanding of the people has grown with lived experience (cf. n. 148). This interpretation, which is done first and foremost by the Church, is transmitted in the notes that are usually found in biblical editions, which contextualize, clarify and specify what we read. We might allude here to three criteria given by the Second Vatican Council for interpreting Scripture: the unity of Scripture, the living Tradition of the whole Church and the whole of the Christian faith (cf. Benedict XVI, Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, 30 September 2010, nn. 34, 86 and 87).

Francis insists that we who wish to help others in the faith must first listen to the Word with a "docile and prayerful heart," ready to be moved - wounded - by it and to make it part of our life (cf. nn. 149-150).

This pathway , which springs from the interior of the believing heart to others, is intuited by people in our time, when they prefer to listen to witnesses, because they thirst for authenticity. For this reason, Paul VI observed, "he demands that evangelizers speak to him of a God whom they [those who proclaim him] know and treat familiarly as if they were seeing him" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, n. 76). This, Pope Francis warns, does not mean that we should be immaculate, but that we should allow ourselves to be sincerely challenged by God, because the Lord needs us as "living, free and creative beings" (n. 152).

c) The spiritual or prayerful reading of Scripture. This point takes up the contents of the two previous points in other words. First of all, we must grasp the literal meaning of what we read (ask ourselves what does the text say?), so as not to "manipulate" it by reducing it to our previous schemes. Secondly, we must ask ourselves: what does this text say to me, what does God want to change in my life with this message? To do this, we must overcome various temptations (such as getting angry or closing ourselves off, avoiding confronting ourselves personally with what we think is "for others," looking for ungenerous excuses); and, above all, asking Him for what we cannot yet achieve (cf. non. 152-153). All this, we can deduce, requires prayer and an examination of how this question affects us, first of all, ourselves.

d) "An ear among the people" (cf. nn. 154-155). Now we can ask ourselves what others need to hear, according to the questions they ask themselves, their human status , what they live, their previous experiences. Francis warns that this does not respond to an "opportunistic and diplomatic" attitude, or simply to the desire to find something interesting to say. It is rather a matter of achieving a "spiritual sensitivity to read God's message in events"; to discover "what the Lord wishes to say in a given circumstance" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, nn. 53 and 33).

e) Pedagogical resources (cf. nn. 156-159), and finally we come to the how. The Pope observes that some people make mistakes in communicating the faith because they neglect how to do it. They complain when they are not listened to or appreciated, but they do not bother to look for the right way - the means, the methods - to present the Christian message. And this is not right, because we want to respond to the love of God by loving our neighbor; and, therefore, "we do not want to offer others something of poor quality".

In this line he suggests some "practical" pedagogical resources: summarizing (saying a lot in a few words); using not only examples that refer to understanding, but also attractive images, comparisons based on some experience connected to life. As an old teacher used to say: "an idea, a feeling, an image".

Our communication should be simple, clear, direct, and adapted to those who listen to us. In principle, we must use terms that they understand, and not specialized terms, proper to theology or to catechesis. To achieve this, the Pope wisely proposes, those who communicate must "listen a lot, they need to share people's lives and pay them willing attention" (n. 158). Note that this advice seems easy to take to the "internship", but it is not so easy, because it may require changes that go beyond mere didactics. It would be enough to think about whether we allow them to ask us questions, because we see in these questions paths to God, who has been at work in these people for some time; whether we take their doubts and difficulties seriously, because we really want their good; whether we bring all this to our prayer, putting ourselves "in their place," because we know that each person's journey of faith is unique.

And he concludes by saying that simplicity is not enough; clarity is also required, and, for this, order and logic in what is exposed. Without forgetting that the language must be positive: that it attracts, without remaining in the complaint or in the criticism; that it orients with hope towards the future. Undoubtedly this has to do with the beauty of the Christian faith that we must know how to "communicate".

In synthesis, although Francis refers to preaching, from his Exhortation on "the joy of the Gospel" (good news) we can all learn basic attitudes, necessary to "communicate" the faith: humility and veneration towards the Word of God (the Sacred Scripture), sincerity and courage with ourselves, respect and sensitivity towards others.