Jesus not found outside the Church, Pope preaches

Catholic News Agency ^ | 04/23/13 | Estefania Aguirre

[Brian Kopp DPM]

Jesus not found outside the Church, Pope preaches :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/jesus-not-found-outside-the-church-pope-preaches/

April 23, 2013

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. John Lateran on March 29, 2013. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/CNA.

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2013 / 07:39 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said that people cannot be fully united to Jesus outside of the Church during a Mass to commemorate Saint George, the saint he is named after.

“You cannot find Jesus outside the Church,” he said April 23 in the Apostolic Palace’s Pauline Chapel.

“It is the Mother Church who gives us Jesus, who gives us the identity that is not only a seal, it is a belonging,” he declared in his homily.

The pontiff spoke about Christian identity as well as persecution, making it the sixth time in two weeks he has mentioned those who suffer for the faith.

Speaking about the Gospel reading for today from Saint John, Pope Francis underscored that “the missionary expansion of the Church began precisely at a time of persecution.”

“They had this apostolic fervor within them, and that is how the faith spread!” he exclaimed.

It was through the Holy Spirit’s initiative that the Gospel was proclaimed to the Gentiles, the Pope noted, and the Spirit “pushes more and more in this direction of opening the proclamation of the Gospel to all.”

The pontiff also repeated a line from his April 17 homily in St. Martha’s residence, when he emphasized that being a Christian is not like having “an identity card.”

“Christian identity is belonging to the Church, because all of these (the apostles) belonged to the Church, the Mother Church, because finding Jesus outside the Church is impossible,” he said.

“The great Paul VI said it is an absurd dichotomy to want to live with Jesus but without the Church, following Jesus out of the Church, loving Jesus without the Church,” he added.

Pope Francis said that “if we are not sheep of Jesus, faith does not come” and that it is “a rosewater faith and a faith without substance.”

The Pope also commented on Barnabas, who was sent to Antioch and was glad to see that the grace of God had encouraged people there to remain true disciples.

“Let us think of the consolations that Barnabas had, which is the sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing,” he preached.

“Let us ask the Lord for this frankness, this apostolic fervor that impels us to move forward, as brothers, all of us forward,” he remarked.

After the Mass in the papal chapel, the Swiss Guard band offered a brief musical performance in the Courtyard of Saint Damaso for the Pope’s name day.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

You still haven’t found a verse that says what you claimed...

[Salvation]

Keep going with your research.

[MeganC]

I do not need to be a Roman Catholic to be saved and I don’t need anyone to intercede on my behalf with my Lord and Savior. He and I are already on a first-name basis.

[Salvation]

I believe you are totally wrong. Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter after asking him three times if he loved him.

What were Jesus’ instructions to Peter?

Feed my lambs.

Tend my sheep. (Yes, we are all sheep.)

Feed my sheep.

Is that in your Bible? Or do you skip over that part of the Gospel?

[MeganC]

“As a non-Roman Catholic, I take his words to mean the catholic (small c) church”

Note that the Pope referred to the “Church” which means the RCC.

He’s welcome to his beliefs, of course, just as I’m welcome to mine.

And I say he’s wrong.

[svcw]

I am not the Pope, I am however a believer in Jesus Christ, and He is with me He is not exclusive to some group as defined by a man.

[Salvation]

LOL! so true!

[MeganC]

“I believe you are totally wrong.”

You are welcome to believe whatever you want and I am free to say that Mr. Bergoglio neither speaks for me nor does he hold any authority to me.

[tiki]

I agree with you. If you have faith in Jesus Christ you belong to the universal Church.

As a Catholic, I believe that those outside the Church miss many graces, gifts, and consolations that God has bestowed on the Catholic Church.

[Mad Dawg]

"Church" is defined a few different ways, so it's unclear what the Pope is saying.

YAY! Somebody gets it!

[svcw]

When you say “outside the church”, what do you mean?
Jesus defined the church as people, how do you define ‘church’?

[Salvation]

Christ’s words: “Unless you eat my Body and drink my Blood, you shall not enter the Kingdom of God.”

That means, the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, Megan. Do you uderstand that?

[Salvation]

He is trying to convert you. You may want to listen.

[svcw]

So for you the “church” is not God/Jesus foundation but a man?
Or could you expound on what you mean?

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

“I do not need to be a Roman Catholic to be saved and I don’t need anyone to intercede on my behalf with my Lord and Savior. He and I are already on a first-name basis.”

Thank you MeganC. Me too. My wife and I walk with Him, and we talk with Him. He is our Lord, our Savior, our Friend. We begin each day in close communion with Him, and with His Word. He at times speaks directly to us and asks us to write it down and to share it with those He might point out to us who would be blessed by the Words He shares with us.

I have known many Roman Catholic’s who knew Jesus, in a close personal way, and shared Him. And He was visible in their lives. I have also know many who, it seems do not know him...we shall know them by their works, by their fruit.

[Salvation]

Your lack of respect says a lot more than your words. You are talking about Pope Francis here, not a mr. somebody.

Ever hear of the Sins of the Holy Spirit that cannot be forgiven?

I will pray for you.

[Marcella]

“I am not the Pope, I am however a believer in Jesus Christ, and He is with me He is not exclusive to some group as defined by a man.”

You are exactly right. I was active in the Baptist Church until I was in my 40s and most of that time I was a pianist and teacher in the church. I became a Catholic, even a lector in the Catholic Church, in my 50-60s. Now, I belong only to the church in the body of Jesus Christ. Physical churches have become too liberal and I won't be in those physical churches just to show the public I go to church. Physical churches have removed themselves too far from Jesus Christ so I removed myself from them.

[svcw]

1 Corinthians 11:24

And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Luke 22:19

And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

remembrance

The real question is do you know the difference between remembrance and literal

[FatherofFive]

So was Jesus lying or mistaken in John 11:26?

it is not 'either or'. It is 'both and' You need to read Scripture in totality. You cannot just pick out those verses that support your man-made beliefs.

[piusv]

I am loving how this has caused such a ruckus. I’ve been waiting for the Holy Father to speak some hard truths that others aren’t going to like.