Pope Francis continues to amaze. On October 17, 2013, he did it again. In his daily morning Mass, “the peoples” the Pope railed against those who use morality as an excuse to be inflexible. Pope Francis said that if a Christian “?becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith.? ?During the homily, sermon for us Protestant folks,?the Pope kept returning to the themes of prayer, and real belief. And Pope Francis continued by contrasting those who publicly “go to prayers” and act as if the key to the church doors, faith, is in their pocket, while the doors are closed to the real mission of the Church. The Pope reminded his flock that without true prayer a Christian descends into ideology, moralism and false faith.
The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology. And ideology does not beckon [people]. In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid. And when a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus; he is a disciple of this attitude of thought? For this reason Jesus said to them: ?You have taken away the key of knowledge.? The knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many requirements.
-Pope Francis
This Pope basically just threw down the gauntlet to crazy right wing American fundamentalism! ?Rather than denying the existence of science, the fundamental dignity of gay persons, and the list could go on. This Pope has been clear that he believes in science, called for a re-examination of capitalism saying, “Who am I to judge,” when questioned about gay people, and in short is the kind of Holy Father wished for in “The Shoes of the Fisherman,” a book and then a movie starring Anthony Quinn. ?Pope Francis is quickly becoming the kind of Pope people always imagined and prayed the Pope should be.
14?What?does it?profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?..?15?If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,?16?and one of you says to them, ?Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,? but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what?does it?profit?..?17?Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead…20?But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” James 2: 14-20 New King James Version
From washing the feet of a woman to his rejecting the papal apartments, Pope Francis just may save the Catholic Church from itself. ?And Francis has been very clear that he thinks the problem is too many people of faith pray in church, go to Mass, are good Catholics, or Protestants, but that they do not really pray. ?James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.” Francis has made it clear that, in his view, the Church, nor its members have been humble in a long time. All of which made the decision he announced on October 23, 2013 a major news story.
The Holy Father temporarily removed a Bishop in Limburg, Germany, dubbed “the luxury bishop” in the press. This person,?Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, has, so far, spent over forty-two million dollars on upgrades to his personal residential complex. The Pope chose not to humiliate the Bishop by removing him from office but I am sure this will be a long vacation, and either the Bishop will return with a new sense of mission, or he will be “called” to a new, less public and less publicly embarrassing position.
Francis’ message seems to be very clear that the Church, and religious people in general, have gotten caught up in the false belief ?of ?”prosperity theology,” also known as prosperity gospel here in the US,?and the Church has forgotten its mission because its leaders have become seduced by the luxuries of the world.
?This?makes the removal of this Bishop the perfect example. Bishope Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst is orange. He’s manicured, botoxed, has an ever changing shade of brown hair, and looks one or two procedures away from being a bored, Beverly Hills ?housewife. It seems a good way to judge a person’s character these days is by which unnatural shade of orange they make themselves. ?And it is clear, just ?by his photos, that this is not a humble person.
This is a man who has drunk from the cup of power and luxury and it has made him blind. ?Pope Francis was too kind to fire him outright. Maybe church politics won’t let him do that at the moment. But, the message has been sent. The “house” is getting cleaned up and you can either, tow the line, get in line, or go on “sabbatical.” But modesty and humility is the new modus operandi of the Church. The new Pope, along with the rest of the world, ?hopes these are heart felt and sincere changes not just window dressing.
The Pope has a message that explains the behavior of too many “believers”:
These do not pray, abandoning the faith and transforming it into moralistic, casuistic ideology, without Jesus. And when a prophet or a good Christian reproaches them, they the same that they did with Jesus: ?When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him? ? they are ideologically hostile ? ?and to interrogate him about many things,? ? they are insidious ? ?for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.? They are not transparent. Ah, poor things, they are people dishonored by their pride. We ask the Lord for Grace, first: never to stop praying to never lose the faith; to remain humble, and so not to become closed, which closes the way to the Lord.
Pope Francis may just save the world and kick some ass, humbly,?while doing it!
Edited by SB
