(Vatican Radio) Humility, faithfulness and prayer are the three signs of a Christian
who belongs to the Church. That was the theme that Pope Francis chose for his homily
at morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta on Thursday, urging his listeners to really
“feel with the Church”.
The Pope said the first fruit of our Baptism is to
make us a part of the Church, a member of the people of God. Recalling the words of
Pope Paul VI, he said it’s absurd to claim that we love Christ without the Church,
that we listen to Christ but not the Church, that we are with Christ but on the margins
of the Church. The Gospel message, Pope Francis said, comes to us through the Church
and our path to holiness must be found within the Church.
Speaking of the three
pillars which underpin our sense of belonging to the Church, the Pope said the first
is humility and the realization that the story of salvation does not start or end
with us. A person who is not humble, he said, cannot feel with the Church but only
feels what he or she desires. Instead, humility helps us understand that we are just
a small part of the great people of God, that is following the way of the Lord.
The
second pillar, Pope Francis said, is faithfulness to the teachings and doctrine of
the Church. Quoting again from his predecessor Paul VI, he said we receive the Gospel
as a gift and we must pass that gift on to others in faithfulness, rather than seeing
it as something that belongs to us.
Thirdly, the Pope said, we must remember
to pray with and for the Church in all parts of the world. Do we really pray for the
Church, he asked, not just at daily Mass but also when we are at home? May the Lord
help us, he concluded, to follow this path, to deepen our sense of belonging and feeling
with the Church.