In today's homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis highlighted three words indicated by the Scriptures that show how Christians must live their journey: memory, prayer, and mission.
POPE FRANCIS
'A Christian must move in these three dimensions and ask for the grace of memory: 'Do not forget the moment that you chose me, do not forget the moment that we met,' say to the Lord. Then, pray. Look at Heaven because He intercedes there. He intercedes for us. Then go on a mission: that is, it does not mean that everyone must go abroad; to go on a mission is to live and bear testimony of the Gospel, to let people know who Jesus is.â?
He concluded by saying that these three things are the 'topography of Christian life, and to go forward with joy that no one can take away.â?
EXCERPTS FROM THE POPE'S HOMILY IN ENGLISH
Source: Vatican Radio
'The Scriptures give us three words, three points of reference for the Christian journey. The first word is 'memory.' To be a good Christian it is necessary to always have this memory of the first encounter with Jesus, or of subsequent encounters.â?
'The second point of reference is 'prayer.' We must ask for the grace to contemplate heaven, the grace of prayer, the relationship with Jesus in prayer, that in the moment He hears us, He is with us.â?
'Then there is a third [point of reference]: 'the world.â? Jesus, before He left themâ??as we heard yesterday in the Gospel of the Ascensionâ??says to the disciples: â??Go into the world and make disciples.â?? Go: the Christianâ??s place is in the world in order to proclaim the Word of Jesus, in order to say that we are saved, that He is come to give us grace, to bring us all with Him before the Father.â?
'A Christian must move in these three dimensions, and request the grace of memory: saying to the Lord, â??Donâ??t let me forget the moment when You chose me, donâ??t let me forget the moment we met.â?? Then, praying, looking to heaven because He is there, interceding. He intercedes for us. And then, going on mission: that is, not saying that everyone has to go to the foreign missions; [rather] going on mission is living and bearing witness to the Gospel, it is making Jesus known to all people. And doing so through witness and through the Word: because if I tell people about Jesus, and about the Christian life, and then live like a pagan, that wonâ??t do. The mission will not go forward.â?
'And this is the final word Jesus speaks to us today in the Gospel: â??On that day, the day in which you live the Christian life in this way, you will know all things and no one will be able to take your joy away from you.â? No one, because I have the memory of my encounter with Jesus; I have the certainty that Jesus is in heaven in this moment and He is interceding for me, He is with me; and I prayer and I have the courage to speak, to go out of myself, and to speak to others and bear witness with my life that the Lord is risen, He is alive. Memory, prayer, mission. May the Lord give us the grace to understand this topography of the Christian life and to go forward with joy, with that joy that no one can take from us.â?
JC
CTV
S
-PR
Up: JC
