Pope says imitating Jesus is more than ‘rigid observance’ of rules

Crux ^ | June 29, 2023 | Elise Ann Allen

[ebb tide]

Pope says imitating Jesus is more than ‘rigid observance’ of rules

Honoring Saints Peter and Paul, the patrons of Rome, on their liturgical feast day, Pope Francis said understanding and imitating Jesus is not a matter of following doctrinal formulas or the “rigid observance” of rules and norms.

Rather, it means letting go of preconceived convictions and daily being transformed by his love in order to spread the Gospel to others, the pope said.

Speaking during a Mass for the June 29 Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis said the two apostles answered the most essential question for a Christian, “Who is Jesus for me?” in a very specific way: “By following him as his disciples and by proclaiming the Gospel.”

[ebb tide]

“By following him as his disciples and by proclaiming the Gospel.”

Yet Hypocrite Jorge claims proselytism is a sin. Yet much of the Gospel is about rules and norms.

Bergoglio never proclaims the Gospel at the U.N.; nor did he proclaim the Gospel in Abu Dhabi. He does not proclaim the Gospel to homosexuals, to pro-abort politicians, to atheist communist dictators, to Jews, to Hindus, etc.

Pope Francis condemns ‘serious sin’ of ‘proselytism’ but has ‘no explanation’ for vocations crisis

[Big Red Badger]

Jesus said;
I call You Friends.
.
John 15:15

[chajin]

imitating Jesus is not a matter of following doctrinal formulas or the “rigid observance” of rules and norms. Rather, it means letting go of preconceived convictions and daily being transformed by his love in order to spread the Gospel to others, the pope said.

That isn't what Jesus said. He said that unless our righteousness exceeded that of the scribes and Pharisees, we would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

To exceed something, one must first meet its standard, and then go beyond it. In other words, "following doctrinal formulas or the “rigid observance” of rules and norms" is the first step towards righteousness.

We meet the standard of adultery by not cheating on our spouse either before or during marriage, then exceed it by not looking at a woman with lust in our hearts--which, by the way, is all in the exact OPPOSITE direction from the acts of the LGBTQIA crowd that Frances wants us to accept as is.

And so it is with all the other rules--you have to rigidly observe them FIRST, and then go beyond them to observing them at a level that the world will never understand.

I know this, and I'm not even a Catholic, much less a pope.

[No name given]

Well said.

[ebb tide]

Ping

In that case, Catholics (bishops, priests and laymen) should be free to ignore the Bergoglio's "rigid rules" of Traditionis Custodes.

[Hambone 1934]

Soo the rules of Jesus are “”rigid””...Must not like the Bible and definitely not the 10 commandments

[Hambone 1934]

He wants his secular groupies to looooove him.....

[BipolarBob]

Agreed. Following Gods Laws do not guarantee you a place in Heaven because that’s salvation by works. But NOT following Gods Laws can exclude you from Heaven. Sin is defined by the Law. But to follow the Law in Spirit one must love the Law because it is based on love and therefore a reflection of Gods character.

[MurphsLaw]

imitating Jesus is not a matter of following doctrinal formulas
or the “rigid observance” of rules and norms.

This Pope, who though has made a career of speaking abstractly,
ambiguously and most famous for speaking provocatively,
is really spot on here.

Today, on the Church calendar,
we recognized the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.
THE context here then, of what the Pope was addressing today,
was the work these two Saints accomplished in converting
Jews and Gentiles to Christ.
Through their imitation of Christ- and proclaiming
the Gospel Christ tasked them with-
they knew that was the way to serve God-
and not the laws and regulations of the Pharisees that burdened God's people.
They would have fought and rebuked the same conventions
Christ ran up against, as unecessary, (ie. Circumcision)
and put their focus on spreading the Gospel as primary.

So in the focus of these 2 most important Apostles,
The Pope says nothing incorrect here or ambiguous here,
as this was his reference point for his statement.
To conflate what the Pope said, to diminish his meaning, is off base on this.

[aimhigh]

There are New Testament commandments.

John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

[JesusIsLord]

Bergoglio never proclaims the Gospel at the U.N.; nor did he proclaim the Gospel in Abu Dhabi. He does not proclaim the Gospel to homosexuals, to pro-abort politicians, to atheist communist dictators, to Jews, to Hindus, etc.

Ouch!!

[ebb tide]

The Pope says nothing incorrect here or ambiguous here, as this was his reference point for his statement. To conflate what the Pope said, to diminish his meaning, is off base on this.

You're the one conflating what Bergoglio means. Bergoglio has been blasting traditional catholics for years, complaing about their rigidity and rule-following. He flaunts the Ten Commandments, especially about adultery and false worship (Pachamama) and bearing false witness.

It seems you'll bend over backwards to defend modernist heretics who happen to be your heroes.