In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel passage about a widow who donated the small amount she had to the temple.
The Pope said that we must learn to have the same kind of hope in God as the woman. He added that the Church must act as she did and move away from worldliness.
POPE FRANCIS
'And when our soul, our life, is closer to Jesus, it moves away from many worldly things, things that are not needed, that do not help and that turn us away from Jesus. And so our Church is looking for her Lord, waiting for her groom, expects that encounter, weeping for her children, fighting for her children, giving everything she has because her only interest is her Lord.â?
The Pope concluded by advising Christians to ask themselves: Do I get security from God, or do I put other things ahead of Him?
SUMMARY OF THE POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
The Church is the bride of Christ, Pope Francis said, but her Lord has gone and her only treasure is in her Lord. If the Church remains faithful, then she leaves everything while waiting for her Lord to return. If she does not have so much faith in the love of her Lord, then she tries to get by in other ways, seeking security in things that are more of this world than of God.
The widows of the Gospels, the Pope continued, speak beautifully to us about Jesus and His Church. There is the widow of Nain who was crying as she accompanied her son to be buried outside the city gates. There is the widow who goes to the unjust judge in order to defend her sons, knocking on his door every day and bothering him continuously until he delivers a just sentence for her. This is the widowed Church who prays and intercedes for her children, Pope Francis explained. But the heart of the Church is always with Jesus, the Bridegroom in heaven.
According to the desert fathers, the Pope said, our souls also resemble the Church, and the closer our souls, our lives, are to Jesus, the more we are able to avoid worldly, useless things that lead us away from Christ. While the â??widowedâ?? Church waits for Jesus, he said, she can be faithful, trusting that her husband will return, or she can be unfaithful to her widowhood, a lukewarm, mediocre, worldly Church seeking comfort in other things.
In these last days of the liturgical year, Pope Francis concluded, we would do well to ask ourselves if our souls are searching for the Lord, or if theyâ??re looking for comfort in things which do not please the Lord. Let our souls say 'Come Lord Jesus! Come!â? And may we leave behind all those useless things which stop us staying faithful.
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