Posted on 11/08/2015 4:18:38 PM PST by BlessedBeGod
The Christian includes, he does not close the door to anyone, even if this provokes resistance. He who excludes, because he believes himself to be better, generates conflicts and divisions, and does not consider the fact that "we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God." That was the message of Pope Francis during Thursday morning's Mass at Casa Santa Marta.
The attitude of Christ is to include
In the Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul exhorts us not to judge and not to despise our brothers, because, the Pope said, this leads to excluding them from "our little group," to being selective, and this is not Christian. Christ, in fact, "with His sacrifice on Calvary" unites and includes "all men in salvation." In the Gospel, publicans and sinners draw near to Jesus -- "that is, the excluded, all those that were outside," -- and "the Pharisees and the scribes complained":
"The attitude of the Scribes and the Pharisees is the same, they exclude. [They say,] 'We are the perfect, we follow the law. These people are sinners, they are publicans'; and the attitude of Jesus is to include. There are two paths in life: the path exclusion of persons from our community and the path of inclusion. The first can be little but is the root of all wars: all calamities, all wars, begin with an exclusion. One is excluded from the international community, but also from families, from friends -- How many fights there are! -- and the path that makes us see Jesus and teaches us Jesus is quite another, it is contrary to the other: to include."
There is resistance in the face of inclusion
"It is not easy to include the people," Pope Francis said, "because there is resistance, there is that selective attitude." For this reason, Jesus tells two parables: the parable of the lost sheep, and the parable of the woman and the lost coin. Both the shepherd and the woman will do anything to find what they have lost, and when they find it, they are full of joy:
"They are full of joy because they have found what was lost and they go to their neighbours, their friends, because they are so happy: 'I found, I included.' This is the 'including' of God, against the exclusion of those who judge, who drive away people, persons: 'No, no to this, no to that, no to that...'; and a little of circle of friends is created, which is their environment. It is a dialectic between exclusion and inclusion. God has included us all in salvation, all! This is the beginning. We with our weaknesses, with our sins, with our envy, jealousies, we all have this attitude of excluding which -- as I said -- can end in wars."
If I exclude, I will one day stand before the tribunal of God
Jesus, the Pope said, acts like His Father, Who sent Him to save us; "He seeks to include us," "to be a family."
"We think a little bit, and at least -- at least! -- we do our little part, we never judge: 'But this one has acted in this way...' But God knows: it is his life, but I don't exclude him from my heart, from my prayer, from my greeting, from my smile, and if the occasion arises I say a good word to him. Never excluding, we have no right! And how Paul finishes the Letter: 'We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God...then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.' If I exclude I will one day stand before the judgment seat of God, I will have to give an account of myself to God. Let us ask the grace of being men and women who always include, always, always! in the measure of healthy prudence, but always. Not closing the doors to anyone, always with an open heart: 'It pleases me, it displeases me,' but the heart is open. May the Lord grant us this grace."
Not true anti-pope.
Jesus excluded most.
Not exactly. Non-Christians are excluded, including those who wish to hold onto their love of sin while asking Christ to carry their penalty. The non repentant are excluded. The faithless are excluded. The heretics are excluded. We come to God on His terms, not ours.
How very profoundly sad, a Pope that is not familiar with the True Gospel, so he presents a false image of Jesus.
I keep my doors open to anyone. But I will bow down or submit to a bunch of immoral savages.
Who is allowed communion in the Catholic Church?
Been divorced? (Or any other thing in a long list of EXCLUSIONS?)
Oh but ... if the Vatican hierarchy tells you you are absolved then you can take catholic communion. They have their own religion, not a denomination of Christianity. So they can dole their absolutions as they see fit, or profit most.
That information is mistaken. Is it your opinion? Or do you have a source for it?
Immoral savages???
Of whom are you speaking? Or is this Catholic bashing?
So Francis. When Our Lord said that if someone does not listen to the Church we are to treat him as “a Gentile or tax collector” in Matt 18....what was that, exactly?
Seems that I remember this Pope excluding a very highly credentialed global warming skeptic from his climate summit. Must be there are times it’s OK to exclude.
Good stuff. Thank you.
You are mistaken. No one is excluded from Communion for being divorced.
I read this and think of that young beautiful woman Kate Steinle standing on a San Francisco pier with her father enjoying the view and being shot randomly without reason by an illegal alien who had been deported 5 times but had found refuge in the sanctuary city policy of San Francisco.
And it becomes clear that borders, walls, fortifications, rule of law, armies, patrols, law enforcement, jails and prisons and so on are all human constructs of exclusion. They are developed to give a chance that people might live in peace. Abandon all these constructs and Satan’s minions rule by default.
We have had in our history a rational immigration system, before 1965. We included many who were sincere and who sought a better life and who we as Americans were able at times to take in. But such a system was based on criteria for assimilation and points for skills and education. So we were inclusive and exclusive simultaneously.
We as Americans have been throughout our history an extremely charitable people who have had groups of missionaries and peace groups travel the world to help the poor and needy. So we make the effort to meet and greet the poor and advocate for their immigration to America if that is appropriate and available.
In the last several decades, our performance as Americans in immigration has become politicized. Immigrant groups are viewed as voters for the establishment party(s) recruiting them or as constituents that serve to provide power for certain districts.
America was good and can be good again.
Well said.
Sounds like the Anglicans, who have reduced the “gospel” to exactly one, single, solitary word: “Inclusion.”
This is what happens when you elect a Pope who is a weirdo, with a shallow, cheap mind, no relevant education, and whose own diocese was/is a crumbling shambles.
The pope is pandering..., selling out Christians..hoping that he can keep the savages from attacking the vatican. It won’t work.
I agree. Although Jesus taught for Christians to not be a stumbling block for anybody seeking the truth in Jesus, Jesus did not teach that Christians had to unconditionally welcome everybody into their lives like Pope Francis evidently wants Catholics to think.
For example, Matthew 23 shows that Jesus reprimanded the Pharisees and teachers of the law for being hypocrites, the Jewish religious leaders thus being a stumbling block for people who were seeking Jesus.
John 6:36-66 likewise shows that Jesus did some heavy preaching to actually discourage people that He knew were not going put their faith in him from following him.
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