During his Thursday morning homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis explained that conversion is something Christians must continually work toward if they want to encounter Jesus.
POPE FRANCIS
'A few months ago, I met a woman. Young, mother of a beautiful family, who had cancer. A bad cancer. But she moved with happiness, as if she was healthy. And speaking of that attitude, she told me, 'Father, I put everything into conquering cancer!' That is a Christian.â?
He added that those who have received the gift of Jesus Christ must act in the same way as the woman. Every single day, he explained, is a step forward toward conversion.
SUMMARY OF THE POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
The Holy Father began his main catechesis with a reflection on the family as founded on a promise. 'The family,â? said Pope Francis, 'lives of the promise of love and fidelity that a man and woman have made to each other,â? a promise that unites families through and across generations, and extends to the whole human family. '[The marriage promise] involves a commitment [on the part of the couple] to welcome and educate their children; but it is fulfilled also in taking care of elderly parents, in protecting and caring for the weaker members of the family, in helping one another to achieve the full potential and accept the limits of each.â?
The Holy Father also discussed the family as the 'schoolâ? of virtue, par excellence, saying that there is truly no greater 'schoolâ? to teach us such fidelity than marriage and the family, which are, in Godâ??s plan, a blessing for our world â?? for, as Saint Paul tells us, the love on which the family is based, points to the bond of love between Christ and His Church.
The Holy Father concluded with an appeal for continued prayerful support of the work of the XIV Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which is currently in the last of three weeks of sessions here in Rome, exploring the challenges and vocation of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world.
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