To: allendale; GreyFriar; Biggirl; Bigtigermike; Salvation; yefragetuwrabrumuy; Romulus; Tax-chick; ...
Today's Mass reflects a recurring theme of Francis' daily fervorini:
He talks about being a "Christian" without Christ. He has frequently examined the Church that does not first and foremost point people toward Christ, calling it a "pitiful NGO" in those circumstances. For example:
- 3/14/13: "Building: to build the Church. There is talk of stones: stones have consistency, but [the stones spoken of are] living stones, stones anointed by the Holy Spirit. Build up the Church, the Bride of Christ, the cornerstone of which is the same Lord."
… In the end, "we can walk as much we want, we can build many things, but if we do not confess Jesus Christ, nothing will avail. We will become a pitiful NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of Christ. When one does not walk, one stalls…When one does not build on solid rocks, what happens? What happens is what happens to children on the beach when they make sandcastles: everything collapses, it is without consistency. …When one does not profess Jesus Christ, one professes the worldliness of the devil.
- 5/18/13: The Church is not a political movement, or a well-organized structure: it is not that. We are not an NGO, and when the Church becomes an NGO it loses its salt, it has no taste, it's just an empty organization. And this - be clever! Because the devil deceives us, because there is the danger of hyper - efficiency. One thing is to preach Jesus, effectiveness, being efficient is another thing: no, that's another value. The value of the Church, basically, is to live the Gospel and give witness to our faith. To be the 'salt of the earth, light of the world, is called to make present in society the yeast of the Kingdom of God and do it first with our witness, our witness of fraternal love, solidarity, sharing. When you hear some say that solidarity is not a value, it is a primary attitude that needs to be done away with... theres something wrong! Today people are only concerned with worldly efficacy. The moments of crisis, such as the one we are experiencing as you mentioned before, "we are in a world of lies", no? Lies, it is a crisis - this time of crisis, but ... let's be careful, ok? It is not only an economic crisis, it is a cultural crisis. It is a human crisis: what is in crisis is mankind! And what can be destroyed, is mankind! Mankind, the image of God! For this is a deep crisis. In this time of crisis we cannot worry only about ourselves, close in on ourselves in loneliness, discouragement, in a sense of helplessness before our problems. Please do not close in on yourselves! That is a danger. But ... we lock ourselves up inside our parish, among our friends, in our movement, with people who think the same as we do ... But, what is happening? When the Church becomes closed in on itself, it gets sick. Think of a closed room, a room locked for a year, when you go, there is a smell of damp, all these things here, that's not right. A Church that is closed in on itself is just the same, it is a sick Church.
The Church must go out from herself. Where? Towards the existential outskirts, even if that means risking accidents along the way, in the outward journey. To those who worry about what can happen to the Pope responds : I prefer a thousand times a Church damaged by an accident, than a sick Church closed in on itself. Faith- he added - is an encounter with Jesus, and we must do the same, help others to encounter Jesus.
- 6/11/13: "Everything is grace. Everything. And what are the signs of when an apostle lives this gratuity? There are so many, but I will underline only two: First, poverty. The proclamation of the Gospel must follow the path of poverty. The testimony of this poverty: I have no wealth, my wealth is the gift I received, God: this gratuity is our wealth! And this poverty saves us from becoming managers, entrepreneurs ... The works of the Church must be brought forward, and some are a little complex, but with a heart of poverty, not with the heart of an investment broker or an entrepreneur
"
Pope Francis continued, "The Church is not an NGO: it is something else, something more important, and this is the result of gratuity. Received and proclaimed". Poverty "is one of the signs of this gratuity." The other sign "is the ability of praise: when an apostle does not live this gratuity, he or she loses the ability to praise the Lord." Praising the Lord, in fact, "is essentially gratuitous, it is a gratuitous prayer: we do not ask, we only praise"
"These two are the signs of an apostle who lives this gratuity: poverty and the ability to praise the Lord. And when we find the apostles who want to build a rich Church and a Church without the gratuitousness of praise, the Church becomes old, the Church becomes an NGO, the Church becomes lifeless. Today we ask the Lord for the grace to acknowledge this generosity: 'Freely you have received, freely give'. Recognizing this gratuity, this gift of God . Let us move forward in preaching of Gospel".
- 7/28/13: The Church is an institution, but when she makes herself a centre, she becomes merely functional, and slowly but surely turns into a kind of NGO. The Church then claims to have a light of her own, and she stops being that mysterium lunae of which the Church Fathers spoke. She becomes increasingly self-referential and loses her need to be missionary. From an institution she becomes a enterprise. She stops being a bride and ends up being an administrator; from being a servant, she becomes an inspector. Aparecida wanted a Church which is bride, mother and servant, a facilitator of faith and not an inspector of faith.
Today's exhortation is just a different twist on a common theme: the need for radical conversion (at both the individual and institutional levels) and the utter need to become completely dependent solely upon Christ.
28 posted on
09/07/2013 8:59:27 AM PDT by
markomalley
(Nothing emboldens the wicked so greatly as the lack of courage on the part of the good -- Leo XIII)
To: markomalley
36 posted on
09/07/2013 9:12:30 AM PDT by
Biggirl
(“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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