The way of the Christian is a way of humility and meekness: Pope Francis

Vatican City, 01 October 2013: The way of the Christian is not a “path of vengeance. But it is the way of humility, of meekness, said Pope Francis during Mass he celebrated on Monday morning at Casa Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. The Pope concelebrated the Mass with members of the Council of Cardinals whom he is meeting with the group of Cardinals from Tuesday through Thursday this week.

In his homily, the Pope expressed the hope that the meeting would help everyone become more humble and more trusting in God, so that the Church might be able to give a beautiful witness to the people.
On the feast of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, it would be good for us to think about “this spirit of humility, of tenderness, of bounty.” It is a spirit, the Pope said, that the Lord “wants from all of us.” Where, then, is the power “that brings us to this spirit?” It is found “in love, in charity, in the awareness that we are in the hands of the Father.” When we sense this, the Pope observed, we will not want “to call down fire from Heaven”. Rather “another spirit comes, that of that charity that suffers all, pardons all, that does not boast, that is humble, that doesn’t seek itself. Reflecting on the saint of the day, the Pope said that ‘the Church has wisely made this saint, humble, small, trusting in God, meek: she has made her the Patron of Missions.”

The strength of the Gospel, continued the Pope, is there, “because the Gospel reaches its highest point in the humiliation of Jesus: humility that becomes humiliation. And the force of the Gospel, he said, is properly in humility, in the humility of the child that is guided by the love and the tenderness of the father.”
“The Church, Pope Benedict XVI told us, does not grow through proselytism, it grows through attraction, through witness. And when the people see this witness of humility, of meekness, of mildness, they feel the need that the Prophet Zachariah spoke of: ‘We want to come with you.’ The people feel that need in the face of the witness of charity, of this humble charity, without bullying, not sufficient, humble. Worship and serve!”

“Charity is simple: worship God and serve others! And this witness,” the Pope said, makes the Church grow.” That’s why a nun, “so humble, but so trusting in God,” a nun like St. Therese of the Child Jesus “was named Patron of the Mission, because of her example” which makes “the people say ‘we want to come with you!’”

Pope Francis concluded his homily with a special mention of the meeting with the “Council of Cardinals”, adding ‘let us ask the Lord that our work today will make us all more humble, more meek, more patient, more trusting in God, so that the Church can give a beautiful witness to the people, and seeing the People of God, seeing the Church, they might feel the desire to come with us.”
Source: VR Sedoc