In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis spoke of two types of Christians: those who are lazy and do not continue with their lives, and those who have the courage to keep going. He said the last group of Christians are courageous because they have hope.
POPE FRANCIS
'Hope is the anchor: We threw it, and we are clinging to the cord, but there, but going there. This is our hope. Thereâ??s no thinking: â??Yes, but, there is heaven, ah, how beautiful, Iâ??m stayingâ?¦â?? No. Hope is struggling, holding onto the rope, in order to arrive there. In the struggle of everyday, hope is a virtue of horizons, not of closure! Perhaps it is the virtue that is least understood, but it is the strongest. Hope: living in hope, living on hope, always looking forward with courage.â?
In conclusion, the pope said that lazy Christians make the Church 'their parking lot.' That is why he has invited each person to avoid selfishness and to stop looking directly at oneself.
EXCERPTS FROM PAPAL HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
'Lazy Christians, Christians who do not have the will to go forward, Christians who donâ??t fight to make things change, new things, the things that would do good for everyone, if these things would change. They are lazy, 'parkedâ? Christians: they have found in the Church a good place to park. And when I say Christians, Iâ??m talking about laity, priests, bishopsâ?¦ Everyone. But there are parked Christians! For them the Church is a parking place that protects life, and they go forward with all the insurance possible. But these stationary Christians, they make me think of something the grandparents told us as children: beware of still water, that which doesnâ??t flow, it is the first to go bad.â?
'This is todayâ??s message: hope, that hope that doesnâ??t disappoint, that goes beyond. And he [the Author of the Letter to the Hebrews] says: a hope that â??is a sure and firm anchor for our life.â?? Hope is the anchor: We threw it, and we are clinging to the cord, but there, but going there. This is our hope. Thereâ??s no thinking: â??Yes, but, there is heaven, ah, how beautiful, Iâ??m stayingâ?¦â?? No. Hope is struggling, holding onto the rope, in order to arrive there. In the struggle of everyday, hope is a virtue of horizons, not of closure! Perhaps it is the virtue that is least understood, but it is the strongest. Hope: living in hope, living on hope, always looking forward with courage. â??Yes, Father â?? anyone of you might say to me â?? but there are ugly moments, where everything seems dark, what should I do?â?? Hold onto the rope, and endure.â?
'Let us ask ourselves the question: How am I? How is my life of faith? Is it a life of horizons, of hope, of courage, of going forward; or a lukewarm life that doesnâ??t even know to endure ugly moments? And that the Lord might give us the grace, as we have requested in the Collect [Opening Prayer], to overcome our selfishness, because parked Christians, stationary Christians, are selfish. They look only at themselves, they donâ??t raise their heads to look at Him. May the Lord give us this grace.â?
