At the Angelus, Francis tated that keep the note outside the law is not enough to be good Christians
Canção Nova News, with Vatican Radio
“Exterior attitudes are the result of what we decided in the heart, but not the other way around. With external attitudes, if the heart does not change, we are not true Christians “. Said the Pope Francis at the Angelus prayer this Sunday before thousands of faithful present in St. Peter’s square in the Vatican.
On the occasion, the Pope explained today’s Gospel where Jesus discusses with the Pharisees and scribes practice “scrupulously” the law of Moses and the “ancient tradition”, as “expressions of genuine religiosity”.
In this sense, Francis affirmed that maintaining the exterior observation of the law is not enough to be good Christians. “As at that time for the Pharisees, there is also the danger of us considering ourselves peaceful or better than others for the simple fact we observe the rules, traditions, even if we do not love the neighbor, we’re tough and proud”.
For the Pope, the literal observation of precepts is sterile if it doesn’t change the heart and translates into concrete behavior: “open to meeting with God and his Word, seek justice and peace, help the poor, the weak, the oppressed”.
“We all know, in our communities, in our parishes, in our neighborhoods, how bad the Church does and she scandalizes those people who say ‘very ‘ Catholics go to church but, then, in their everyday lives, they do not care for their family, they speak ill of others and so on. This is what Jesus condemns because is a testimony against the Christian life, “the Pope said.
Francis also highlighted a deeper aspect “that Jesus addresses in the Gospel:” there is nothing outside the man who, entering in it, can make him unclean. But are the things that come out of the man that make him impure “. According to the Pope, Jesus extols the primacy of interiority, that is, the ‘ heart ‘: “there are external things that make us Saints or not saints, but it is the heart that expresses our intentions, our choices and the desire to do everything for the love of God”.
“Jesus said: ‘ your treasure is where the heart is ‘. What’s my treasure? Is it in Jesus, in doctrine? Is the heart or the treasure is another thing. Therefore, it is the heart that must be purified and converted. Without a heart purified, you can’t really have clean hands and lips that speak heartfelt words of love: everything is double, right? Words to pronounce mercy, forgiveness: this alone can make the heart sincere and purified, “he said.
And the pope concluded: “Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, to give us a pure heart, free of any hypocrisy. This is the adjective that Jesus called the Pharisees: ‘ hypocrites ‘, because they say one thing and do another. Free ourselves of any hypocrisy, so that we are able to live according to the spirit of the law and achieve its end, that is the love. ”