A good Christian does not complain, but faces the pain with joy: Pope Francis

Vatican City, 07 May 2013: Even in the midst of tribulations, a Christian is never sad but always bears witness to the joy of Christ, said Pope Francis on Tuesday morning, during the Mass at his St. Martha’s Residence in the Vatican. The Pope stressed that ‘being joyful’ makes us young. Concelebrating the Mass with the Pope were Cardinal Angelo Comastri and Cardinal Jorge Maria Mejia. Among those attending the Mass were a group of employees of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Citing the example of St. Paul and Silas, the Pontiff said that they were joyful even when they were called to face imprisonment and persecution for witnessing to the Gospel. They were joyful because they followed Jesus in the way of his passion.

‘Get in patience: that is the way Jesus also teaches us Christians. Getting in patience does not mean being sad. This means to bear, carry on their shoulders the weight of the difficulties, the weight of the contradictions, the weight of tribulations. This Christian attitude is patience. What is said in the Bible with a Greek word, the hypomone, is to endure the life work of every day: the contradictions, tribulations, all of this. Paul and Silas bore their tribulations, endured the humiliation, just like Jesus has borne with patience. This is a process - a process of Christian maturity, through the path of patience. It takes an entire lifetime to come to Christian maturity. It’s like a good wine.’

The Pope recalled that so many martyrs had been joyful, such as the martyrs of Nagasaki that they helped each other while ‘waiting for the moment of death.’ Some martyrs, said the Pope, went to martyrdom as if a "wedding party". This attitude to bear, he added, is the normal attitude of a Christian, an attitude that leads them ‘on the path of Jesus’.

"When difficulties come, many temptations also come. And a Christian who constantly complains, fails to be a good Christian, affirmed the Pontiff. Why always complains about everything, asked the Pope. Bearing in silence, the silence in patience. The silence of Jesus: Jesus in His Passion has not spoken much, only two or three words. The silence of Jesus: the silence of Jesus to bear the Cross is not a sad silence. It is 'painful, often very painful, but not sad. His heart is at peace. Paul and Silas were praying in peace too.

So then the Christian is called to bear as Jesus did, ‘without complaint, enduring in peace’. And, continued the Pope, this renews our youth and makes us younger.’ And the Lord invites us: to this rejuvenated Easter for the path of love, patience, and endurance and also to bear with one another.
Source: VR Sedoc