POPE TALK | KAIROS GLOBAL | MARCH 2018

Author: Dr. Kochurani Josseph

Animator,  National  Professional Ministry, India

You Can’t Have a Closed Heart If You Want to Understand Jesus 

In order to really understand Jesus, Pope Francis underscored, we cannot have a “closed heart,” and rather, need to follow the path of forgiveness and humiliation. To illustrate what it means to really have faith, the Pope turned to the people of Capernaum, who were ready to do anything to get closer to Jesus, taking whatever risks may have come their way. So confident they were in Him and His healing, they overcrowded and surrounded the home where the Lord would heal. He also reminded them that the roof had to be opened for the paralyzed man to be lowered into the home. There is need for Courageous, Forward-looking Hearts

Humiliation Makes Us More Christ like 

 Sometimes we think that humility is to go quietly, perhaps head-down looking at the floor… but even pigs walk with their heads down: this is not humility. This is that fake, ready-to-wear humility, which neither saves nor guards the heart. We have to be aware that there is no true humility without humiliation, and if you are not able to tolerate, to carry humiliation on your shoulders, you are not truly humble: you pretend you are, but you are not.

Don't 'photoshop' your heart – be who you are:

Jesus doesn't want disciples who have been “photoshopped” to perfection, but like the great saints of the past, God calls people to follow him with trust and enthusiasm, despite their weaknesses. When Jesus looks at us, He does not think about how perfect we are, but about all the love we have in our hearts to give in serving others. With technology it's easy to digitally enhance photos to make them look the way we want, but this only works for pictures. We cannot 'photoshop' others, the world, or ourselves. Color filtering and high definition only function well in video; we can never apply them to our friends. These pictures might turn out nice, but they are “completely fake”  

Respect silence during Mass

Don’t neglect the moment of silence during Holy Eucharist and hence Pope asked priests not to be in a hurry in celebrating the Eucharist.  Pope focused on the ‘Collect,’ the moment in Mass when faithful are called to present their individual intentions and needs to God and think about why they are there. Silence is not reduced to the lack of words, but in being open to listen to other voices, that of our heart and especially, the voice of the Holy Spirit.  The nature of silence in liturgy changes depending on the moment it takes place representing an opportunity to collect during the penitential act and the call to prayer, a chance to meditate after the readings and homily, and a moment for praise after Communion. Perhaps we come from days of 

challenges, joy, pain, and we wish to say this to the Lord, invoke his help, ask that he be close to us; we have family and friends who are sick or going though a hard time; we wish to trust the faith of the Church and the world to God. 

Pope Francis Says

•  Liturgy is a true school of prayer

• Church needs you, Be the saints of the 21st century

• Economic models should be centred on human dignity

• Faith is a grand adventure, one that gives young people the inspiration to overcome difficulties and dream big.

• The world needs stable families by sustaining relationships.