Being a Christian is not a coincidence, but a call of love: Pope Francis

Vatican City, 25 June 2013: Being a Christian is not a coincidence, but a call of love, a call to become children of God, said Pope Francis on Tuesday morning during Mass at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican. The certainty of a Christian is that God never leaves us alone and asks us to go forward, even in the midst of problems, added the Pope. The Mass was concelebrated by Cardinal Robert Sarah, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, and Msgr. Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, and was attended by a group of employees from the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum", the Pontifical Academy for Life and a group of employees of the Vatican Observatory.

Focusing on the First Reading from the Book of Genesis, which tells of the discussion between Abram and Lot about the land division, the Pope said "when I read this I think the Middle East and so I ask the Lord to give us all the wisdom for peace." Abram, the Pope observed, "kept walking. He had left his land to go, not knowing where, but where the Lord tells him." This man, perhaps ninety, said the Pope, looks at the land the Lord shows him and believes. Abram’s journey is a model for our journey.

There is a call, “by name, and with a promise,” the Pope said, “Go ahead, I am with you! I walk beside you.” This, he said, Jesus knew as well: “Even in the most difficult moments He turns to the Father”:

"God accompanies us, God calls us by name, God promises [there will be] a line of heirs. This is something of ‘the surety of the Christian. It is not a coincidence, it is a call - a call that keeps us going. Being a Christian is a call of love, friendship, a call to become a child of God, brother of Jesus, to become fruitful in the transmission of this call to others, to become instruments of this call. There are so many problems, so many problems, there are difficult times, Jesus had many of His own! But always with that confidence: ‘The Lord has called me. The Lord is like me. The Lord has promised me.”

The Lord, he reiterated, "is faithful, for He can never deny Himself: He is faithfulness.” Thinking of the passage in which Abram, “is anointed father, for the first time, the father of peoples,” we also think of ouseveles – we, who have been anointed in Baptism, and we think of our Christian life.”:

"Someone will say, ‘Father, I am a sinner’, but we all are, as everyone knows. The problem is: sinners, go forward with the Lord, go forward with that promise that He has made us, with the promise of fruitfulness, and tell others, recount to others others that the Lord is with us, that the Lord has chosen us and that He does not leave us alone, not ever! That certainty of the Christian will do us good. May the Lord give us, all of us, this desire to move forward, which Abram had, in the midst of all his problems: to go forward with the confidence that He who called me, who promised me so many beautiful things, is with me.”
Source: VR Sedoc