Pope recalls Mother Teresa, contrasts Spirit of Jesus with spirit of the world
Vatican City, 28 May 2013: The proclamation of Jesus is not a ‘gloss’ or ‘veneer’,
but it goes into the heart and changes us, said Pope Francis at Mass on Tuesday morning
at St. Marta’s Residence in the Vatican. The Pope reiterated that following Jesus
‘does not mean more power’, because his way is that of the Cross. Tuesday’s mass was
concelebrated by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, José Octavio Ruiz Arenas, president
and secretary of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, and was attended
by a group of priests of the same ministry and a group of employees from Vatican’s
Governorate.
Focusing on St. Peter’s question as to what will be the reward
for following Jesus, Pope Francis said that after all, it concerns the life of every
Christian. Jesus, the Pope observed, says that those who follow him will have "many
good things" but also ‘persecution’. The way of the Lord, he continued, ‘is a way
of 'lowering', a road that ends in the Cross’. The Pope cautioned that "when a Christian
has no difficulty in life - everything is fine, everything is beautiful - something
is wrong.’
‘If you follow Jesus as a cultural proposal, said the Pope, we
use this route to go higher, to have more power. And the history of the Church is
full of this, starting with some emperors and then many rulers and many people.’
The
Pope recalled that at one time, "in the literature of two centuries ago," people used
to say ‘as a child he wanted to make a career in the church’. It reiterated that
‘many Christians, tempted by the spirit of the world, think that following Jesus is
good because you can make a career, you can go ahead’. But this ‘is not the spirit’
and Jesus answers: ‘Yes, I will give everything with persecution.’ ‘You cannot take
away Jesus from the road of the Cross, he is always there.’ And yet, he warned, this
does not mean that Christians must get hurt. A Christian "follows Jesus for love and
when you follow Jesus for love, the envy of the devil does so many things.’ The ‘spirit
of the world - he observed - will not tolerate this, does not tolerate the testimony.’
‘Think
of Mother Teresa, said the Pope, what does the spirit of the world say of Mother Teresa?
'Ah, Blessed Teresa is a beautiful woman, she did a lot of good things for others
...'. The spirit of the world never says that the Blessed Teresa spent, every day,
many hours, in adoration ... Never! It reduces Christian activity to doing social
good. As if Christian life was a gloss, a veneer of Christianity. The proclamation
of Jesus is not a veneer: the proclamation of Jesus goes straight to the bones, heart,
goes deep within and change us. And the spirit of the world does not tolerate it,
will not tolerate it, and therefore, there is persecution’, added the Pope. Pope
Francis said those who leave their home, their family to follow Jesus, receive a hundred
times as much "already now in this age." A hundred times together with persecution.
And this should not be forgotten: "Following Jesus is just that: going with Him
out of love, behind Him: on the same journey, the same path. And the spirit of the
world will not tolerate this and what will make us suffer, but suffering as Jesus
did. Let us ask for this grace: to follow Jesus in the way that He has revealed to
us and that He has taught us. This is beautiful, because he never leaves us alone.
Never! He is always with us. So be it Source: VR Sedoc