Ángelus: You can not be a Christian and attack your neighbor's life

Vatican City

Pope Francis in reflection during the prayer of the Angelus takes up two elements present in the reading of Luke 12: 49-53. The first: "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how much I would like it to be already burning!" (V. 49) and the second: "Do you think I came bring peace to the earth? In no way. I did not come to bring peacebut the division. "(Lk 12,51).

The Pope explains that, to better understand the call, Jesus uses the image of fire that he himself came to bring to the earth: "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how much I would like it to burn already! " (Luke 12:49) And he continues: "These words are meant to help the disciples to abandon any attitude of laziness, apathy, indifference, and closeness to receive the fire of love. of God, that love which reminds us of Saint Paul "It was poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Rom 5: 5).

The most ardent desire of Jesus

Francis encourages us to see what Jesus reveals to his friends: "His most ardent desire: to bring on earth the fire of the Father's love, which illuminates life and through which man is saved. He calls us to spread this fire in the world, through which we will be recognized as His true disciples. "

The fire of love, lit by Christ in the world by the Holy Spirit, is unlimited, universal, says the Pope: "The testimony of the Gospel burns all forms of particularism and maintains charity open to all, with only one preference: that of the poorest and most excluded ". And he adds: "Joining the fire of the love that Jesus brought to the Earth envelops our whole existence and requires the worship of God as well as the will to serve our neighbor. Adoration to God and willingness to serve others. "

Adoration to God and service to others

Service to others is the result of adherence to the fire of love that Jesus brought to the earth. At that time, the Pope said: "I think with admiration of so many communities and groups of young people who, even during the summer, devote themselves to this service for the sick, the poor and the handicapped . " And he adds, "Thus, the gospel really manifests itself as the fire that saves, that changes the world of change of heart."

In the second statement, the pope says: "He has come" to separate by fire "the good from the evil, the just from the unjust".

You can not be a Christian and try against others

Then he explains: "In this sense, he came to" divide ", to put in" crisis ", but in a healthy way, the life of his disciples, breaking the easy illusions of those who believe to be able to badociate the Christian life with the commitments of everything. type, practices and religious attitudes towards others ".

The Pope gave the example: "How many self-proclaimed Christians go to the fortune teller or the fortune teller to read their hand!" And it's superstition, not God. It is not a matter of living in a hypocritical way, but of wanting to pay a high price for making choices that are in accordance with the Gospel. "

For Pope Francis, calling oneself Christians has specific implications: "It's good to call oneself Christians, but above all we have to be Christians in concrete situations, bearing witness to the Gospel, which is essentially love for God and for our brothers ". He ended his speech by asking Mary to help us spread the fire that Jesus brought "with our lives, through decisive and courageous decisions."