The Vatican City ( AsiaNews) - It is "absurdity to love Christ without the Church, to feel Christ but not the Church", Pope Francis reiterated during the mass celebrated at Casa Santa Marta, pointing out that following Jesus is not an "idea " but a "constant abiding at home", the Church , where Christ always welcomes everyone, even if they are distant.
Vatican Radio reports that the
Pope took his cue from the Gospel of the boy seized by convulsions, foaming at
the mouth, in a middle of a shocked and helpless crowd. And
his worried father emerges from the crowd and decides to hope against hope in
Jesus. Jesus, moved with compassion by the crystalline faith of the father,
drives away the demon and then leans gently over the young man, who appears as
if dead, helping him to his feet.
"All the [noise and excitement created by the crowd gathered round the
disciples, who had failed to liberate the boy], all the talk, ends in an act:
Jesus lowers Himself [and] takes up the boy. These acts of Jesus make us think.
When He heals, when He goes among the crowds and heals a person, He never
leaves that person alone. He is not a wizard, a sorcerer, a "healer" who goes
and [plies his trade] and is on his way: everyone [he helps], he helps to
return to his proper place - He leaves no one on the side of the road. These
acts of Jesus are very beautiful, indeed".
Pope Francis went on to explain that such gestures are found throughout the
Gospels: from the resurrection of Lazarus; to the raising of the daughter of
Jairus or of the widow's son - as well as the lost sheep returned to the fold
or the lost coin recovered by the woman. "Jesus," said Pope Francis, "always
makes sure we get safely home. He never leaves us alone along the way".
"Because Jesus did not only come from Heaven. He is the Son of a People. Jesus
is the promise made to that People, which, beginning with Abraham, made its way
toward the promise. These gestures of Jesus teach us that every healing, every
[act of] pardon, always helps us return to our People, which is the
Church".
Jesus always forgives, and his acts [of forgiveness] become "revolutionary" or
"inexplicable" when they reach those who [seem to us to be too far gone], like
Matthew the tax collector or his colleague, Zacchaeus. Christ's healing acts
always lead people "home" - and thus it is impossible to understand Jesus
without the People of God. "It is," he said, "an absurdity to love Christ
without the Church, to feel Christ but not the Church, to follow Christ from
the outskirts of the Church." "Christ and the Church are united," he said.
"Whenever Christ calls a person, He brings that person to the Church." For
this, said Pope Francis, "it is good [that a child] "come to be baptized in
Church - Mother Church".
"And these, Jesus' gestures of so much tenderness make us realize this: that
our doctrine, let us say, or our following Christ, is not an idea. It is a
constant abiding at home - and though each of us has the opportunity and the
real experience of leaving home for a sin, a mistake - God knows - salvation
[means] going home with Jesus in the Church. These are gestures of tenderness.
One by one, the Lord is calling us as well, to His people, into His family, our
mother, the Holy Church. Let us think on these acts of Jesus".