Pope at Mass: Christian consolation and the law of the truly free
(Vatican Radio) The Beatitudes are 'new commandments', but they are not just a simple
do gooders list. They cannot be understood with the mind, only with the heart, so
if our hearts are closed to God we will never know true freedom. Christian consolation
is the presence of God in our hearts which teaches us to understand the Beatitudes
as the law of the truly free. This was the main focus of Pope Francis’ homily Monday
morning at Mass in the Casa Santa Marta residence. Emer McCarthy reports Listen:
Reflecting
on the daily readings the Pope began by noting that, at the beginning of the Second
Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul uses the word consolation several times. The Apostle
to the Gentiles, he added, "speaks to Christians who are young in the faith," people
who "have recently begun to follow the path of Jesus", he insists on this, even if
"they were not all persecuted." They were normal people, "but they had found Jesus."
The Pope said this "was such a life-changing experience that a special strength from
God was needed" and this strength is consolation. Consolation, he said again, "is
the presence of God in our hearts." But, Pope Francis warned, in order for the Lord
"to be present in our hearts, we must open the door”. His presence requires our "conversion":
"This
is salvation: to live in the consolation of the Holy Spirit, not the consolation of
the spirit of this world. No, that is not salvation, that is sin. Salvation is moving
forward and opening our hearts so they can receive the Holy Spirit’s consolation,
which is salvation. This is non-negotiable, you can’t take a bit from here and a bit
from there? We cannot pick and mix, no? A bit of the Holy Spirit, a bit of the spirit
of this world ... No! It’s one thing or the other. "
Pope Francis continued,
the Lord clearly states: "You cannot serve two masters: or you serve teh Lord or
you serve the spirit of this world." You cannot ‘mix them up’. It is precisely when
we are open to the Spirit of the Lord, that we are able to understand the "new law
that the Lord brings us": the Beatitudes, of which the Gospel speaks today. The Pope
added that we can only understand these Beatitudes " if we have an open heart, from
the consolation of the Holy Spirit". They "cannot be understood with human intelligence
alone":
"They are the new commandments. But if we do not have a heart open
to the Holy Spirit, they will seem silly. ‘Just look, being poor, being meek, being
merciful will hardly lead us to success'. If we do not have an open heart and if we
have not experienced the consolation of the Holy Spirit, which is salvation, we cannot
understand this. This is the law for those who have been saved and have opened their
hearts to salvation. This is the law of the free, with the freedom of the Holy Spirit.
"
Pope Francis continued, "we can regulate ourlife, according to a list
of commands or procedures," but it is a "merely human” list. In the end this “does
not lead us to salvation”. The Pope recalled that many were interested in "examining",
"this new doctrine and then arguing with Jesus." And this was because they "their
hearts were closed in on their own concerns", "concerns that God wanted to change."
Pope Francis asked; Why do people "have their hearts closed to salvation?". The Pope
said it is because “we are afraid of salvation. We need it, but we are afraid" because
when the Lord comes "to save us we have to give everything. He is in charge! And we
are afraid of this" because "we want control of ourselves". He added that in order
to understand "these new commandments," we need the freedom that "is born of the Holy
Spirit, who saves us, who comforts us" and is "the giver of life":
"Today
we can now ask the Lord for the grace to follow Him, but with this freedom. Because
if we want to follow him with our human freedom alone, in the end we become hypocrites
like the Pharisees and Sadducees, those who quarreled with him. This is hypocrisy:
not allowing the Spirit to change our hearts with His salvation. The freedom of the
Spirit, which the Spirit gives us, is also a kind of slavery, of being ‘enslaved’
to the Lord which makes us free, it is another freedom. Instead, our freedom is only
slavery, but not to the Lord, but to the spirit of the world. Let us ask for the grace
to open our hearts to the consolation of the Holy Spirit, so that this consolation,
which is salvation, allows us to understand these commandments. So be it! "
Mass
was concelebrated by the President and undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for
the Laity, Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko and Bishops Josef Clemens and Indian Archbishop
George Valiamattam, of Tellicherry. It was attended by a group of priests and collaborators
of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.