Pope says a Christian’s identity is belonging to a people, the Church

May 15, 2014 - ‎There cannot be a Christian without the Church nor a Christian who walks all alone, because Jesus Himself walks with his people in history. This was the central theme of the homily of Pope Francis at the Mass Thursday morning at the Casa Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. Taking his hint from the first reading from the Acts of the Apostle, Pope Francis pointed out that in apostles always preached Jesus in the context of the history of the people of God. Just as Jesus cannot be understood without this history, so too a Christian without the people of God, the Church, is incomprehensible. Explaining further, the Pope said Jesus did not fall from the sky like a superhero who comes to save us. He has a history. And we can say, and it is true, that God has a history because He wanted to walk with us. A Christian, who without history, without a Christian nation, a Christian without the Church is incomprehensible like a specimen in the laboratory, an artificial thing, a thing that cannot give life. Underscoring the importance of being a ‘living memory’ of the history of his people, the Pope said a Christian is the living memory of his Church. The Church is the people of God walking towards the fulfilment of the promise of the future. Hence the Christian is a person with hope – a hope that does not disappoint. The Pope thus urged Christians to pray for the grace of belonging to the Church, the grace of memory and the grace of hope.