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!”
You’ve nailed it. They descend like locusts within a few posts. There’s an Alinsky quality to their tactics.
All of the removed posts are mine. I’m apparently making personal attacks.
It’s such a fine line I can’t figure it out. For every post I make, there are 2 or 3 that I rethink and bale on. I’m not going to school to learn the finer points of the “stinging rebuke” and the “pounce when he stumbles.”
When there are threads that deal with these issues, you will see most of the same people you call the obnoxious "anti-Catholics" contending for the truth of Christ and against churches (whatever kind) that condone homosexuality and all its particulars. But, there are many threads that get posted by obnoxious, anti-Protestant Catholics who take pleasure in provoking non-Catholic Christians here every chance they get. Should nobody respond in defense against THESE?
When your fellow Protestants are declared heretics and damned to hell for not "coming home" to Roman Catholicism, are you also on their cases for doing that? Does it bother you, being a Protestant, to read thread after thread that asserts ONLY the Roman Catholic Church is the TRUE church established by Jesus Christ and all us "schismatic heretics" are missing out because we aren't Catholic? Do you mind when some Catholics presume to be experts on what every non-Catholic Christian believes and lump us all into the same bag and treated as garbage?
What strikes me most about this new Pope Francis is that he genuinely seems to care more about bringing people to faith in Jesus Christ than he is in making everyone Roman Catholic. I think he is actually trying to fulfill some of the decrees that came from Vatican II which include recognizing that true, saving faith in Jesus Christ CAN be found outside of the Roman Catholic Church and that God is able to save non-Catholics without them having to join up. Now, some Catholics even on this forum object to many of those decrees and they reject that souls can be saved in Protestant churches. This is why you will observe the kind of threads they post often have this as the subtext.
Now, I am all for everyone being kind and respectful to each other and I dislike animosity as much as anyone here. I try to talk to others as I would like to be talked to. But, even Jesus and the Apostles found that sometimes people needed to be rebuked and corrected as much as exhorted and encouraged. There is no reason to be hateful and obnoxious, but some people see any alternate views but their own as hate speech. They are the ones who need a reality check.
You always misrecall.
Was it Jehovas Witness?
Its follower of The Way of Yeshua.
I know that you consider that to be error, but Yeshua says its right, so I’ll go with him over a Maryolator, and Ishtar worshiper.
When you see the Vatican in flames, and the angels of Yeshua singing Aleluyah Praise be to Yeshua over its glowing, smoking embers, you’ll then recall correctly.
Can we agree that the "church" is not some monolithic institution but rather the people who belong to Christ and are his bride? This really IS what Jesus established, that souls won to faith in Christ follow Him and live their lives to honor Him and draw others to saving faith as well as band together in local assemblies for common worship, prayer, teaching and taking care of each other like family members.
The Roman Catholic plan of Salvation:
As a Protestant I wish the anti-Catholics here would focus on Protestant churches that embrace gays, gay marriage, and abortion.
Which also seems to be what the Pope is saying.
Could it be that the Pope knows, or like many others at least think he knows what rev 17 is telling us and trying to bring Christians back to Jesus?
I don,t know, but he seems to be pointing to Jesus rather than Church doctrine as our salvation.
If revelation 17 is referring to the church it is not only the Catholic Church it is also the Protestant Churches, worth giving some thought.
God Bless you and thank-you.
The anti-Catholic attacks here on some of these threads are so very wrong and so very anti-Christian at a time when there is growing anti-Christian attack which includes having believers in the Lord Jesus Christ killed, including what is going on in Muslim countries.
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