Pope Francis: Jesus has a promise and a mission for every Christian
Sept 05, 2013: At his morning mass on Thursday, Pope Francis reflected on the different
ways in which Christ reveals himself in the life of a Christian, offering support
and giving each one a mission.
Speaking at his morning mass in the Santa Marta
residence in the Vatican, Pope Francis spoke of how when Jesus comes into our lives,
he always gives “a promise, a promise that gives comfort, a request for generosity
and a mission to be carried out.” He said the gospel account of how Jesus, after the
miraculous catch of fish invited the fishermen Peter, James and John to follow him,
is an example of this. He promised to make them fishers of men and then invited them
to leave everything and follow him. And this is what the apostles did, they left everything
Pope
Francis says “Jesus never asks us to follow him without telling us what our mission
is.” “ It’s not like a show to go along the path of Jesus,” he said. “ We follow him
to do something and that’s our mission.”
Concluding his homily the Pope spoke
of how these three things; promise, request and mission are linked to prayer. “A prayer
without a word from Jesus and without faith, or a promise, is not a good prayer,”
he said. “There is no prayer in which Jesus does not inspire us to do something.”