In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis said it's good to go to Mass, pray and be good Christians, but what is truly necessary is to enter into the mystery of Christ.
POPE FRANCIS
“Entering into the mystery of Jesus Christ is even deeper. It is to go into the abyss of mercy, where there are no words: only the embrace of love. The love that led Him to die for us. When we go to confession because we sinned, we say 'Yes, I must get rid of my sins,' or 'I need God to forgive me for my sins.' We go, tell our sins to the confessor, and then we are calm and happy. If we do this, we have not entered into the mystery of Jesus Christ.”
For this reason, and to deeply enter into the mystery, the pope recommended meditating on the Passion of Christ in the Way of the Cross.
EXTRACTS OF POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
'Entering into the mystery of Jesus Christ is more, it is to let go into that abyss of mercy where there are no words: only the embrace of love. The love that led him to death for us. When we go to confess because we have sins, we say yes, I must have my sins taken away, let's say; or 'God forgive me for my sins, tell your sins to the confessor, and we will be calm and happy. If we do so, we have not entered into the mystery of Jesus Christ. If I go, I go to meet Jesus Christ, to enter into the mystery of Jesus Christ, to enter into that hug of forgiveness of which Paul speaks; of that gift of forgiveness.'
'It's nice to do the Via Crucis. Do it at home, thinking of moments in the Passion of the Lord. Even the great Saints always advised that we begin the spiritual life with this encounter with the mystery of Jesus Crucified. Saint Teresa advised her nuns: to get to the prayer of contemplation, the high prayer she began with the meditation of the Passion of the Lord. The Cross with Christ. Christ in the Cross. Start and think. And so, trying to understand with the heart that he loved me and gave himself for me, 'he gave himself up to death for me.'
'I am a good Christian, I go to Mass on Sunday, I do works of mercy, I pray, I educate my children well: this is very good. But the question I ask, 'You do all this, but have you entered the mystery of Jesus Christ?' Look at the Crucifix, 'icon of the greatest mystery of creation, of all': 'Christ crucified, the centre of history, the centre of my life.'
