In his daily homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis invited Christians to pray for the grace to speak from experience and not like a parrot.
POPE FRANCIS
'This is our strength, this is our witness. Christians of words; we have many words, we too, so many words. This is not sanctity. Sanctity is being Christians who put in practice in their life what Jesus has taught; and what Jesus has sown in our hearts.”
The pope said there are two steps in getting to know Christ. These are to recognize one is a sinner and then pray to the Lord. He encouraged Christians to habitually ask God for the grace to know Him and themselves.
EXTRACTS OF PAPAL HOMILY
(Source: Vatican News)
“Paul wants Christians to feel what he himself. In response to the question that we can put to Paul – 'Paul, who is Christ for you?' – he spoke simply about his own experience: 'He loved me, and gave Himself for me.' But he was involved with Christ who paid for him. And Paul wants every Christian – in this case, the Christians of Ephesus – to have this experience, to enter into this experience, to the point that each one can say, 'He loved me, and gave Himself for me,' but to say it from their own personal experience.”
“Paul says that He 'is able to accomplish far more than all we can ask or imagine.' He has the power to do it. But we have to ask Him: 'Lord, let me know you; so that when I talk about you, I am not repeating words like a parrot, [but rather] I am saying words born from my own experience. So that like Paul I can say: ‘He loved me, and gave Himself for me’ – and say it with conviction.' This is our strength, this is our witness. Christians of words, we have many words; we too, so many [words]. This is not sanctity. Sanctity is being Christians who put in practice in their life what Jesus has taught; and what Jesus has sown in our hearts.”
“The first step is knowing oneself: [that we are] sinners, sinners. Without this understanding, and without this interior confession – that I am a sinner – we cannot go forward. The second step is prayer to the Lord, who with His power makes us know this mystery of Jesus, which is the fire that He has brought upon the earth. It would be a good habit if every day, in every moment, we could say, 'Lord, let me know You, and know myself.'”
