Angelus, Pope: “faith is not something mechanical or commercial, it is gift and free”

Mireia Bonilla – Vatican City

This midday, Pope Francis presented today’s liturgy in which the Gospel of Mark proposes the meeting between Jesus and the rich young man and which “allows us to make a test of faith”, declared the Pope in leaning from the balcony of the Apostolic Palace before praying to our Heavenly Mother.

Faith is not a “must-do-get”

The Pope asked us to look at the verbs the rich young ruler used when he asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life? The young man uses the verbs: “I must do – have”. “It is their religiosity: a duty, a doing to have; I’m doing something to get what I need. But it is a business relationship with God, a do ut des, ”assures the Pope.

“Faith, on the other hand, is not a cold and mechanical rite, a” compulsory “, but a question of freedom and love”, underlined the Pontiff. Therefore, the first question of the test of faith – says the Pope – is: “What is faith for me?” “If it is mainly a duty or a bargaining chip, we are very badly led, because salvation is a gift and not a duty, it is free and cannot be bought”, explains the Pope, so the first thing to do is “Get rid of commercial and mechanical faith, which hints at the false image of a responsible and controlling God, not a father.” And many, many times in life – he says – “we can experience this relationship of commercial faith: I do it because God gives it to me”.

Faith must be revitalized by seeking the gaze of God

The Pope insisted on the fact that faith “is not of a duty, not of something to do, but of a gaze of love which must be welcomed”. Thus – he underlined – “the Christian life is beautiful, if it is not based on our capacities and our projects, but on the gaze of God”. Therefore, the second question of the test of faith that the Pope invites us to ask ourselves is: “Is your faith tired and do you want to revitalize it?” and immediately the Pope replied: “Seek the gaze of God: put yourselves in adoration, allow yourself to be forgiven in Confession, stand before the Crucifix.

We often do the bare minimum, while Jesus invites us to do the maximum possible

After the question and the look, there is – third and last passage – an invitation from Jesus, who says to him: “You only need one thing. What is this rich man missing? “The gift, the gratuity”, said the Pope, and that – he underlined – “is perhaps what we also lack, since we often do the bare minimum, whereas Jesus invites us to do the same. maximum possible. How often do we content ourselves with our duties – precepts and some prayers – while God, who gives us life, asks us for impulses of life! “.

The third question of the test of faith proposed by the Holy Father is: “What is the situation of my faith? Do I experience it as something mechanical, as a relationship of duty or interest with God? For the Pontiff, a faith without gift and without gratuity “is incomplete”, “it is a weak and sick faith” that “one could compare it to a rich and nutritious food which lacks flavor, or to a game well played,” but without goals “, it’s over.