Posted on 10/13/2014 4:15:07 PM PDT by BlatherNaut
God's laws are meant to lead all people to Christ and his glory, and if they do not, then they are obsolete, Pope Francis said in a morning homily.
In fact, the scholars of the law in Jesus' day were so wrapped up in doctrine as an end in itself, they were unable to see that Jesus was leading people down a new and surprising path toward his glory, the pope said Oct. 13 during his morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lives.
Jesus did "strange things," like "walk with sinners, eat with tax collectors" -- things the scholars of the law "did not like; doctrine was in danger, that doctrine of the law" that they and the "theologians had created over the centuries," he said, according to Vatican Radio.
The scholars were safeguarding the law "out of love, to be faithful to God," the pope said, but "they were closed up right there," and forgot all the ways God has acted in history.
"They forgot that God is the God of the law, but is also the God of surprises," he said.
"God is always new; he never denies himself, he never says that what he had said is wrong, but he always surprises us," the pope said.
The scholars of the law had forgotten how many times God surprised his people, like when he freed them from slavery in Egypt, he said. They were too wrapped up in their perfect system of laws -- "a masterpiece" where everyone knew exactly what he or she was supposed to do; "it was all settled. And they felt very secure there," he said.
They couldn't see beyond "this system made with lots of good will," and they could not read the "signs of the times," the pope said.
They couldn't see that what Jesus was doing was a sign indicating "that the time was ripe," he said. This is why in the day's Gospel reading (Lk 11:29-32) Jesus said, "This generation is an evil generation," because it sought the wrong kind of sign, the pope said.
The scholars of the law also forgot that the people of God are a people on a journey, "and when you journey, you always find new things, things you never knew before," he said. But the journey, like the law, is not an end in itself; they are a path, "a pedagogy," toward "the ultimate manifestation of the Lord. Life is a journey toward the fullness of Jesus Christ, when he will come again."
The law teaches the way to Christ, and "if the law does not lead to Jesus Christ," he said, "and if it doesn't get us closer to Jesus Christ, it is dead."
Pope Francis asked people to reflect, "Am I attached to my things, my ideas. Am I closed?"
"Am I at a standstill or am I a person on a journey? Do I believe in Jesus Christ, in what Jesus did," dying for humanity's sins and rising again? he asked.
"Am I able to understand the signs of the times and be faithful to the voice of the Lord that is manifested in them?" he asked.
Pope Francis urged people to pray to be able to walk "toward maturity, toward the manifestation of the glory of the Lord" and to have a heart "that loves the law, because the law is God's."
But may people also be able to "love God's surprises and to know that this holy law is not an end in itself," he said.
I got that wrong. Jesus came to fulfill the law.
"God is always new; he never denies himself, he never says that what he had said is wrong, but he always surprises us," the pope said.
Seems to me that's precisely what he said.
“God’s laws are meant to lead all people to Christ and his glory, and if they do not, then they are obsolete . . ..”
It’s hard to believe he said this. If the laws are really God’s, how can they properly be changed.
Moreover, there is the question of what coming to Christ actually means. If it is possible without following any laws or rules that might get in the way, are we left with the counsel to love God and do what you will — perhaps with loving God finally interpreted as doing what you will?
Indeed. And the one posted above is particularly obnoxious.
Well then, Francis, how can God's own Laws, such as the Sixth Commandment, become obsolete if God never denies Himself?
So does this mean that ... God changed his mind? Maybe it means that if men of free will choose to not follow the laws that the laws need to be changed to be made more agreeable to sinful men?
When these cardinals elected him Pope surely they knew what he was like as he must have been shooting his mouth off all his life, right? It leads me to wonder if this was planned by leftists in the Catholic Church to put a loose cannon in there to shake things up
There is a difference between the minute regulations of the Pharisees and the moral laws at stake today in the Catholic Church. God’s moral laws don’t change. And affirming people in sin, which is what “gradualism” and saying only nice things will do in practice at least, doesn’t lead them to Jesus.
I’ll agree with that headline
Great! With all due respect to Pope Francis, the "new age" Pope has evidently been indoctrinated with falsehoods about the Holy Bible as much as USA judges have been indoctrinated with falsehoods about the Constitution.
Bingo!
Anything goes as long as they are “brought to Jesus”?
I guess that would depend on the definition of “brought to Jesus”
Many of us tread extremely lightly when it come to voicing concerns about this new Pope.
“whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven”
But its nice to know that in the end, God has our back.
Liberation theology.
Bump for your remarks.
Contact (FReep) your Bishop!
http://usccb.org/about/bishops-and-dioceses/all-dioceses.cfm
Wow - this pretty much puts man (with all of his sin) in control of what’s right and what’s wrong.
That’s more than a little scary. And straight from the pit of hell.
>>Liberation theology.
Methodists call it “Social Gospel”, but regardless of the name, its just Marxism with a Bible book cover.
>>Contact (FReep) your Bishop!
I’m a former Methodist, so I no longer have a Bishop.
That’s not Jesus’ purpose. The Old Testament says God would make a New Covenant. And why?
-The OT gave laws of right and wrong. To disregard them was to disobey God.
-But to keep them resulted in pride and self-righteousness.
-And no one can even truly keep them perfectly, especially in the heart.
-What’s needed is a new spiritual nature, and that comes by believing on Christ as Savior.
-Christ was able to take our punishment because He deserved no punishment Himself. And someone needed to take it. As much as God wants to forgive, He must also be just. He absolutely MUST punish ALL sin. But, one can believe on Him, and His sacrifice for us, and have our due punishment cancelled. That is the Gospel: God not counting our sins against us.
-This solution takes care of the problem of PRIDE, which deceives us into thinking we’re good and so can depend on ourselves and our own judgment..
-When we know we’re not good, and can’t tell it for ourselves, then we come to depend on the Lord. When we know (CONT’D)
It is disheartening to think that the Westboro Baptist Church is actually closer to the moral teaching of the Church on sodomy as one of the sins crying out to heaven for vengeance than this Synod of Bishops is.
Not right, but still closer.
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