Jesus does not need armies to conquer evil: Pope Francis

Vatican City, 03 September 2013: ‘Where Jesus is there is always humility, meekness and love’, said Pope Francis on Tuesday morning during Mass at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican. The Pope contrasted between the ‘quiet light’ of Jesus who speaks to our heart and the light of the world, an ‘artificial light’ that makes us proud.

The Pontiff asserted the Christian identity, saying it is ‘an identity of the light not of darkness’. Reflecting on the words of St. Paul who said: ‘You brethren are not in darkness, you are all children of the Light’, Pope Francis observed that this light ‘was not well liked by the world’. But Jesus said, he came just to save us from sin’. His Light saves us from the darkness", noted the Pope.

The light of Jesus is not a light of ignorance, but it is 'a light of wisdom’. But the light of the world is another thing. It is an artificial light, perhaps stronger than that of Jesus. Perhaps strong like a firework, or a flash of photography. On the other hand the light of Jesus is a mild light, it is a quiet light, and a light of peace.

The light of Jesus, said the Pope, ‘does not show, it is a light that comes into the heart’. However, ‘it is true that many times the devil is disguised as an angel of light’, warned the Pope. That's why we ask the Lord for ‘the wisdom of discernment to know when it is Jesus who gives us light and when it is the devil disguised as an angel of light’.

The light of Jesus we know it, because it is a humble light. It's a mild light with the fortress of meekness . It's a light that speaks to the heart and is also a light that offers the Cross. If we seek in our inner light​​, we hear the voice of Jesus in our hearts and we look at the cross without fear: that is the light of Jesus’.

But if it is a light that make you ‘feel proud’, the Pope warned, a light that ‘makes you look at others from above’, ‘to despise others’, that is not the light of Jesus. It is the light of the devil, disguised as Jesus, an angel of light.

The Pope has thus shown how to distinguish the true from the false light: ‘Where there is Jesus there is humility, meekness, love, and the Cross’. In today's Gospel, Pope Francis added, Jesus cast out the devil and the people are lost by fear in front of a word which casts out the unclean spirits.

‘Jesus does not need an army to drive out demons, does not need pride, does not need strength.’ ‘What is this word with authority and power that commands the unclean spirits and they come out? 'This is a word that is humble, meek, with so much love. This is a word that takes us in the moments of the Cross.

Pope Francis concluded his reflection asking the Lord that he will give us the grace of His Light and teach us to distinguish His light and the artificial light made ​​by the enemy to deceive us.
Source: VR Sedoc