Walking With Jesus: A Way Forward for the Church
7 Inspirational Messages From Pope Francis
(Sarah Begley) April 3. 2015 Time Magazine
The most important event in the Catholic liturgy is this weekend, and Pope Francis has a new book coming out as an Easter present to his flock. The book is a collection of various sermons and speeches he has given in the last two years, on topics ranging from wisdom to poverty. Here are seven thought-provoking excerpts from Walking With Jesus: A Way Forward for the Church, out Sunday.
On faith
In many areas of our lives we trust others who know more than we do. We trust the architect who builds our home, the pharmacist who gives us medicine for healing, the lawyer who defends us in court. We also need someone trustworthy and knowledgeable where God is concerned. Jesus, the Son of God, is the one who makes God known to us. From the Pope’s new book, Walking With Jesus (On faith) -From the encyclical Lumen Fidei, June 29, 2013
On knowledge:
[O]ur own knowledge and self-awareness are relational; they are linked to others who have gone before us: in the first place, our parents, who gave us our life and our name. Language itself, the words by which we make sense of our lives and the world around us, comes to us from others, preserved in the living memory of others. Self-knowledge is only possible when we share in a greater memory.”
-From the encyclical Lumen Fidei, June 29, 2013
On consumerism:
When we look only for success, pleasure and possessions and we turn these into idols, we may well have moments of exhilaration, an illusory sense of satisfaction, but ultimately we become enslaved, never satisfied, always looking for more. It is a tragic thing to see a young person who “has everything” but is weary and weak.
-From the encyclical Lumen Fidei, June 29, 2013
On compassion:
We have to learn to be on the side of the poor
and not just indulge in rhetoric about the poor! Let us go out to meet them,
look into their eyes, and listen to them. The poor provide us with a concrete
opportunity to encounter Christ himself and to touch his suffering flesh.
-From the Message for the 29th World Youth Day,
Jan. 21, 2014
On illness:
Jesus in fact taught his disciples to have the
same preferential love that he did for the sick and suffering, and he transmitted
to them the ability and duty to continue providing, in his name and after his
own heart, relief and peace through the special grace of this sacrament [of the
anointing of the sick]. This, however, should not make us fall into an
obsessive search for miracles or the presumption that one can always and in any
situation be healed. Rather, it is the reassurance of Jesus’ closeness to the
sick.
-From a general audience, Feb. 26, 2014
On marriage:
It is true that there are so many difficulties
in married life, so many, when there is insufficient work or money, when the
children have problems—so much to contend with. And many times the husband and
wife become a little fractious and argue between themselves. They argue, this
is how it is, there is always arguing in marriage, sometimes even the plates
fly. Yet we must not become saddened by this; it is the human condition. The
secret is that love is stronger than the moment when they are arguing, and
therefore I always advise spouses, do not let a day when you have argued end
without making peace.
-From a general audience, April 2, 2014
On communication:
[C]ommunication is ultimately a human rather
than a technological achievement. What is it, then, that helps us, in the
digital environment, to grow in humanity and mutual understanding? We need, for
example, to recover a certain sense of deliberateness and calm. This calls for
time and the ability to be silent and listen.”
-From the Message for the 48th World
Communication Day, Jan. 24, 2014
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