“The Lord gives everything freely. For free: salvation cannot be bought, nor sold, it is a free gift”. Pope Francis said this speaking off the cuff in his first general audience catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles, attended by 17,000 people in St. Peter’s Square. “The Gospel ends with Jesus’ resurrection and ascension: the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles starts from here, from the superabundance of life that the Risen Lord pours out on his Church”, Pope Francis said, noting that “the Risen One performs very human gestures, like sharing a meal with his disciples, and inviting them to faithfully await the fulfilment of the Father’s promise: ‘You will be baptised with the Holy Spirit’”. “Baptism with the Holy Spirit – the Pope recalled – is the experience that allows us to enter into a personal communion with God and to share in his universal salvific will, by receiving the gift of parresia, courage, that is, the ability to speak ‘as children of God’, not just as men and women, but as children of God: a clear, free, effective word, full of love for Christ and for our brothers and sisters. We do not have to fight to earn or deserve God’s gift. Everything is given freely, at the appropriate time”.