Christians are condemned today because they have a Bible: Pope
Vatican City, 4 March 2014: "The Cross is always there in the Christian way", said
Pope Francis during his homily at Mass he celebrated on Tuesday at Casa Santa Marta
in the Vatican. Focusing his homily on the persecution of Christians, the Pope said
that there are more martyrs today than in the early days of the Church.
In
his homily, the Pope took as his cue the biblical account of where Peter asked Jesus
what the disciples would receive in return for following him. He said Peter probably
thought that following Jesus would be a great commercial activity because Jesus is
generous but, as Christ warned, whatever they would gain would always be accompanied
by persecutions.
Pope Francis went on to warn that the Cross is always present
on the road of the a Christian!” We will have many brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers
in the Church, in the Christian community, but we also will have persecutions.
“This
is because the world does not tolerate the divinity of Christ. It doesn’t tolerate
the announcement of the Gospel. It does not tolerate the Beatitudes. And so we have
persecutions: with words, with insults, the things that they said about Christians
in the early centuries, the condemnations, imprisonment…. But we easily forget. We
think of the many Christians, 60 years ago, in the labour camps, in the camps of the
Nazis, of the communists: So many of them!
Pope Francis pointed out that there
are many brothers and sister nowadays who bear witness to Jesus and are persecuted.
Some cannot even carry around a Bible.
“They are condemned for having a Bible.
They can’t wear a crucifix. And this is the road of Jesus. But it is a joyful road
because our Lord never tests us beyond what we can bear. Christian life is not a commercial
advantage, it’s not making a career: It’s simply following Jesus, concluded Pope Francis.
Source: VR Sedoc