Powerful words from our Holy Father this morning:
Pope Francis took the words “Remain in the Lord,” from the first Reading from the Apostle John, as the starting point for his homily. It is a “counsel for life,” the Pope said, that John repeats “almost obsessively.” The Apostle shows “one of the attitudes of the Christian who wants to remain in the Lord: to understand what’s happening in one’s own heart.” For this reason he warns us, “Do not to trust every spirit, but test the spirits.” It is necessary, the Pope said, to know “the discernment of spirits,” to discern whether something helps us “remain in the Lord or takes us away from Him.” “Our heart,” he added, “always has desires, has cravings, has thoughts.” But “are these from the Lord or do some of these things take us away from the Lord?” That’s why the Apostle John exhorts us to “test” what we think and desire:
“If this goes along the line of the Lord, it will go well, but if not… Test the spirits to see if they really come from God, because many false prophets have come into the world. Prophets or prophecies or suggestions: ‘I want to do this!’ But this does not bring you to the Lord, it leads you away from Him. That’s why vigilance is necessary. The Christian is a man or a woman who knows to keep watch over his or her heart. And many times our heart, and with so many things that come and go, seems a local market: everything, you can find everything there… No! We need to test things - this is from the Lord, and this is not – in order to remain in the Lord.”
What, then, is the criterion to determine if something comes from Christ or from the antichrist? St. John, the Pope said, has a clear “simple” idea: “Every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist.” But what does it mean, “to recognize that the Word is come in the flesh?” It means “recognizing the path of Jesus Christ,” recognising the He, “being God, He emptied Himself, He humbled Himself” even to “death on the Cross”:
5 comments:
Agree, and Amen
But then, how do we square this when he wishes Mohammedans greetings on their religious festivals or says that they "profess" to worship the same God?
Excellent question...I think Popes have taken to speaking one way to Catholics, and another to non-believers.
I would be interested into what others think.
We cannot judge the interior motives of men: objectively those who reject Our Lord are of the devil: Jews, Mahommedans, Hindus,
Fr. Rosica wrote recently of the "Jewish-Christian" God. This is evasive, and vague. Jews and Christians have a very different view of who God is: if one is right, the other is wrong. The same applies to Mohommedans.
Men may not mean it; they wish to be polite, nice, but religious indifferentism is blasphemy.
"Every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh" refers to the fact that Jesus Christ is true God and true Man. So Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Islam all contain the spirit of the anti-Christ because they do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ is true God and true man. Also it is a means of discernment -- if you have a vision, you should ignore it unless you can get it to say the divine praises, "Blessed be God, Blessed be His Holy Name, Blessed be Jesus Christ, True God and True Man." The devil can say all of the above (while appearing as the Blessed Virgin Mary), but he cannot say "Christ, True God and True Man" because of passage you have just cited.
My husband was at the airport and he was approached by a follower of Rev. Sun Moon. Lawrence didn't even let the man speak. The Holy Spirit urged him to say forcefully, "I believe in Jesus Christ True God and True Man!" The man cringed and ran away without saying a word. That is the power of God and the weakness of the anti-Christ. God bless you. Susan Fox www.christsfaithfulwitness.com
Regarding your last comment, it is possible a Muslim, Shinto, HIndu with a dramatically different understanding of God can reach for God, and God will answer. He is the Father of Mankind, so that's what he does when men reach for their god, He responds with love. I guess that's where I get the popes being respectful of the Koran. Otherwise, I'd have to say when Pope John Paul II kissed the Koran, my husband and I were appalled. God bless you. Susan Fox www.christsfaithfulwitness.com
Post a Comment