Pope Francis greets the faithful at the May 8 General Audience (Credit: CNA / Stephen Driscoll)
Posted on 09/07/2013 3:49:35 PM PDT by NYer
.- In his daily homily on Saturday, Pope Francis reflected on the question of authentic Christianity and rejected the practice of focusing more on devotions than on Christ himself.
Jesus is “the center” of faith, said the Pope. “A commandment is valid if it comes from Jesus: I do this because the Lord wants me to do this. But if I am a Christian without Christ, I do this and I don’t know why I have to do it,” he said to the congregation at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta on September 7.
Like the Pharisees, he said, there are some people who “make so many commandments the center of their religiosity.”
Others who have a false sense of religiosity “only seek devotions” or “things that are a little uncommon, a little special, that go back to private revelations,” noted Pope Francis.
“If your devotions bring you to Christ, that works. But if you remain there, something’s wrong,” he explained.
“If Jesus is not at the center, there will be many other things,” so that people become “Christians without Christ.”
Remembering that Jesus is the center of faith “regenerates us, grounds us.”
Pope Francis further explained the mark of a true “Christian with Christ.”
“The rule is simple: only that which brings you to Jesus is valid, and only that is valid that comes from Jesus. Jesus is the center, the Lord, as He Himself says.”
Christians can avoid false religiosity by adoring Jesus as “the Lord, the only Lord.”
“If you aren’t able to adore Jesus, you’re missing something,” warned Pope Francis.
The sign of a true “Christian with Christ” is one who does “that which comes from Jesus” and that which leads to Jesus.
Such adoration bears true fruit in the life of a Christian, encouraged the Pope.
He said that Jesus also gives “the grace of loving Him so much, of following Him, of going along the path that He has shown us.”
A “Christian with Christ” has the courage to proclaim Jesus as Lord.
Pope Francis exhorted Catholics not to focus on false piety, but rather evangelize and “take the Gospel!”
Dynamite is great for stumps, but controlling direction? Big OOps! :o)
What good is it??? How you going to roll the log if you can't hook it??? Ahhhh...You use a peavey instead...
You guys haven’t been watching Duck Dynasty. They use duck tape and dynamite for EVERYTHING! love that show:)
Well, that is CERTAINLY true if there is someone with a vid cam... and if you utter the words. "Hold mah beer, and watch this!" : D
Never miss an episode. It is Redneck 101 : )
And in the wintertime, I look just like em! (I will start growing my beard when hunting season starts...)
Yeah, not us poor folk. They still have the old timey stuff available for us. Actually what I am trying to do here is set up a hobby farm that produces all of our food and do it in a way that anyone can. I don’t know if you have seen any of my posts about having had polio and can’t walk but a few steps at a time. I have to do most everything sitting down including cutting trees and stacking branches. It takes the excuse of I can’t do that from most everyone.
LOL Dynamite might have been fun! I am always amazed at what a small wedge at the bottom of a large tree like that does tho.
LOL When you roll a log after flattening one side it’s called canting the log. Thus the name cant hook.
I have. I agree that the word seen in the Greek NT means assembly. But, it seems obvious to a casual observer that the question is irrelevant to the thread. It seems more designed to sidetrack and obscure the central questions being raised. That's nothing we don't now expect!
The word used in most references to church in the New Testament Greek is ἐκκλησίαν which literally means assembly... and does not have any basis in Rome!
Ephesians 5: 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
Ehesians 5 32 τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο μέγα ἐστίν, ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν.
We just started watching that last week. Love it! Gotta admire that family.
I grew a beard during the winter when I live up North but the itch gets to me anymore down here in the South.
I suppose you didn’t read this part of his post?
“As for doctors, where they work, they're fine... But by and large, I have gotten better results from folk/alternative medicine.”
For what it’s worth I haven’t been to a doctor in many, many years.
I would contend it is very relevant to what was being understood. When some folks say “church” they understand something like the RCC in Rome and including the entire membership locals since we are told that often, others maybe the equivalent Protestant organization. We were discussing “take it to the “church”. I simply wanted to clarify what that meant.
Take off your protestant blinders, Christians have no trouble seeing it
I actually started growing my beard out because I had never seen myself as YHWH made me... It was a good lesson on vanity for me... And I found I LIKE having a beard, especially once it is long enough to braid and throw over a shoulder when you need to. I rarely grow it that long anymore. Usually starts getting itchy and hot in the late spring, when I generally buzz-cut my whole head.
And I am generally still pretty stove up in the winter... So the beard isn't in the way much (hunting, ice-fishing, etc)... but I get going when it is warm, and you really ain't lived till you've caught your beard in a body-grinder or something! LOL! so off it goes!
I have an old friend that had polio as a child, and had pretty much gotten over most of it, but now that she is 67 its coming back after her, and walking much is now out of the question.
She got the polio from the vaccine, so it was a severe case, and she had worked hard to recover, but the effects remain in the blood to get you later.
The dynamite would probably sever the tree.
If I was holding your beer, you might not get much back...
The lukewarm receive choice words from Jesus himself in Scripture. He’s pretty hard on them. He always tells those in error that they are in error.
I stand by my words. Most non-practicing Catholics only had a problem with Catholicism when they were told NO: no divorce, no abortion, no promiscuity or impurity. When a difficult situation arose and the time came to walk the walk, they chose self over obedience.
That’s pretty hard to admit to yourself, much less others. It creates a lot of cognitive dissonance. So they give other reasons. Protestants are only too happy to listen to their complaints and tell them they did the right thing.
When you love Jesus, His yoke is easy. When you love yourself, His yoke is heavy. We see this in the Gospels.
Finally, if you want to know Christ, the best way, the most complete way, the most spiritual and miraculous way, is to know him through the Catholic understanding of him. It is amazing!
Is Duck tape the stuff you use when smart people are ducking?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.