In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis explained that Jesus asks each person to carry out an interior change.
POPE FRANCIS
“Your heart, which was worldly and pagan, now becomes Christian with the strength of Christ: to change, this is conversion. It's to change your manner of acting; your works must change. It is a change, but it is not a change that is made up with make-up. It is a change that the Holy Spirit does from within.”
In conclusion, the pope said each person must pray and ask the Holy Spirit for this change. He also added that Christians must fight for their faith, because “easy-going Christians, who don’t fight, don’t exist.”
EXTRACTS FROM THE PAPAL HOMILY
“Changing our way of thinking, changing our way of feeling. Your heart, which was worldly, pagan, now becomes Christian with the strength of Christ: to change, this is conversion. And changing your manner of acting: your works must change. It is a change, but it is not a change that is made with make-up. It is a change that the Holy Spirit makes, within. And I have to make it mine so that the Holy Spirit can act. And this means a battle, fighting!
Easy-going Christians, who don’t fight, don’t exist. Those are not Christians, they are lukewarm. The tranquility necessary for sleep can be found even with a pill, but there are no pills for inner peace. Only the Holy Spirit, can give that peace of the soul that gives strength to Christians. And we must help the Holy Spirit, by making space in our hearts. A daily examination of conscience can help us in this. It can help us to fight against the maladies the enemy sows, which he called “maladies of worldliness.
The fight Jesus wages against the devil, against evil, is not something old, it is a modern thing, a thing of today, of all days, because the fire that Jesus has come to bring us is in our hearts. So we must allow Him to enter, and must ask ourselves, each day: how have I passed from worldliness, from sin, to grace? Have I made room for the Holy Spirit, so that He could act?
The difficulties in our lives are not resolved by watering down the truth. The truth is this: Jesus has brought fire, and struggle. What am I going to do?”
