During his homily on Thursday at Casa Santa Marta, the Pope stressed the importance martyrs and the saints of ordinary life have on Church. Pope Francis explained that they testify to their faith despite all of their difficulties.
POPE FRANCIS
'It is the witness of our martyrs of today â?? so many! â?? chased out of their homeland, driven away, having their throats cut, persecuted: they have the courage to confess Jesus even to the point of death. It is the witness of those Christians who live their life seriously, and who say: â??I canâ??t do this; I cannot do evil to another; I cannot cheat; I cannot lead life halfway, I have to give my witnessâ?
The Pope recalled that these martyrs and witnesses carry the Church forward thanks to the workings of the Holy Spirit.
EXCERPTS FROM PAPAL HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
'Consistency between our life and what we have seen and heard is indeed the beginning of witness. But thereâ??s something else to Christian witness; itâ??s not just giving it. Christian witness always has two parts: â??We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit.â?? Without the Holy Spirit, there is no Christian witness â?? because Christian witness, the Christian life, is a grace, it is a grace that the Lord gives us with the Holy Spirit.â?
'It is the witness of our martyrs of today â?? so many! â?? chased out of their homeland, driven away, having their throats cut, persecuted: they have the courage to confess Jesus even to the point of death. It is the witness of those Christians who live their life seriously, and who say: â??I canâ??t do this; I cannot do evil to another; I cannot cheat; I cannot lead life halfway, I have to give my witness.â?? And the witness consists in saying what has been seen and heard in faith, namely, the Risen Jesus, with the Holy Spirit that has been received as a gift.â?
'These are the witnesses, that is, the saints, the saints of everyday, of ordinary life, but life [lived with] consistency; and also the witness â??to the end,â?? even to death. These are the life blood of the Church; these are the ones that carry the Church forward, the witnesses, who attest that Jesus is Risen, that Jesus is alive, and they bear witness through the consistency of their life, with the Holy Spirit they have received as a gift.â?
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