In his Thursday morning Mass, Pope Francis talked about salvation and about being transformed by God. He explained that recognizing one's sins is a key part of that.
POPE FRANCIS
'The privileged place for an encounter with Christ are our sins. If Christians are incapable of recognizing their sins and finding salvation in the blood of Christ, they're not completely Christian. This is for tepid Christians. When we see worn out Churches, parishes or institutions, it's surely because the Christians there have never found Jesus or they have forgotten their encounter with Him.â?
The Pope also added that that through this transformation, Christians find the strength to preach the Gospel efficiently to others.
SUMMARY OF POPE'S MASS:
Source: Vatican Radio
During his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians which reads: 'If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of Godâ?.
Paul â?? he said â?? is telling us that it is the power of Godâ??s Word that brings about a true change of heart, that has the strength to change the world, giving us hope, giving us life.
He pointed out that this power is not to be found in human knowledge or in manâ??s intelligence. 'Become foolsâ? â?? Francis exhorted â?? donâ??t search for security in your knowledge or in the knowledge of the worldâ?.
And the Pope said that although Paul had studied with the most knowledgeable teachers of his time, he never boasted of his knowledge. In a 'scandalousâ? way â?? Francis said â?? he boasted of his sins and of his encounter with Christ and the crucifix, because that encounter between his sins and the blood of Christ is the only salvific encounter there is. And when we forget that encounter â?? the Pope said â?? we lose the power of Christâ??s strength and we speak of the things of God with a human language, And this â?? he said â?? is useless.
Pope Francis also recalled the Gospel story of Peter and the miraculous catch of fish during which Peter said to Jesus: 'Go away from me Lord for I am a sinful manâ?. In this moment of meeting between his sins and Christ, the Pope said Peter finds salvation.
So, the Pope said: 'the privileged place for an encounter with Christ are our sins. If a Christian is incapable of seeing his sins and his salvation in the blood of Christ, he has only gone half-way. He is a tepid Christian.
And the Pope pointed to those decadent Churches, decadent parishes, decadent institutions where most certainly Christians have never really met Christ or else they have forgotten that encounter
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