Catholic News

Pope: Christians living under false appearances are 'dead'

In his homily on Tuesday, Pope Francis spoke of how we must never be content with where we are in the spiritual life, but rather must seek constant conversion.

The Pope addressed those present in the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse for his Nov. 18 daily Mass, saying that the Lord constantly calls us to conversion, and condemned “those who live by appearances, Christians of appearances.”

“Appearances are these Christians’ shroud: they are dead….Am I one of these Christians of appearances? Am I alive inside, do I have a spiritual life? Do I hear the Holy Spirit, do I listen to the Holy Spirit, do I move forward?” he asked.

The pontiff centered his reflections on the day’s readings, the first coming from the Book of Revelation, and the Gospel from the 19th chapter of Luke, in which the tax collector Zacchaeus climbs a tree in order to see Jesus, who then asks to dine at the corrupt man’s house.

As the Church is coming to the close of its liturgical year we are always invited to think about conversion, he said, explaining that the day’s first reading offers an image of what the Lord says to those who have become lukewarm and comfortable in their faith.

These are the people who think: “I do what I can, but I am at peace and do not want to be disturbed…I go to Mass on Sundays, I pray a few times, I feel good, I am in God's grace, I'm rich (and) I don’t need to do anything.”

Pope Francis warned that this state of mind is sinful, and that “feeling spiritually comfortable is a state of sin” which the Lord strongly condemns when he says that he will spit the lukewarm out of his mouth.

The Lord also calls to conversion to those “who live by appearances,” the Roman Pontiff observed, explaining that these are the Christians who believe that they alive and living a good life, but are really dead.

These type of Christians are called to convert, because “if everything looks good, I have nothing to reproach myself about: I have a good family, people do not gossip about me, I have everything I need…Appearances! Christians of appearance...they are dead!”

Rather than believing that we are already doing enough because we are in the grace of God, we must search for “something alive” within ourselves and constantly seek to reawaken it so that we can advance “from appearances to reality” on our path of conversion, the Pope continued.

He then spoke of the tax collector Zacchaeus from the Gospel, noting how “he was just like many leaders we know: corrupt. Those who, instead of serving the people, exploit the people to serve themselves.”

Despite his corrupt heart, Zacchaeus was not lukewarm, but rather in a state of “putrefaction,” the pontiff said, and he was able to feel something inside drawing him to Jesus.

What Zacchaeus felt, the Pope explained, was curiosity in the face of a man who he had heard so much about. So the Holy Spirit “sowed the seed of curiosity, and in order to see (Jesus) this man even does something a little 'ridiculous'” by climbing a tree.

Because the Holy Spirit was working inside of him Zacchaeus wasn’t ashamed to be seen in the tree, despite being an important leader in society, the Bishop of Rome noted, and because of this, he was able to experience the joy of meeting Christ.

“Those of comfort and those of appearance had forgotten what joy was (but) this corrupt man immediately gets it” and promises to give back everything he has stolen and more, the Pope observed, adding: “When conversion touches pockets, it's a certainty.”

Pope Francis concluded his homily by recalling the three calls to conversion that Jesus himself makes to the comfortable, the lukewarm and those who live under appearances, thinking they are rich, when they are actually poor.

He encouraged those present to use the final weeks of the liturgical year to be vigilant and think “very, very seriously about our conversion, so that we can move forward on the path of our Christian life.”  

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Pope Francis announces 2015 visit to US

Pope Francis on Monday officially announced that he will visit the U.S. in September 2015, including a visit to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.

“I wish to confirm, if God wills it, that in September of 2015 I will go to Philadelphia for the Eighth World Meeting of Families,” he announced at Vatican City's Synod Hall Nov. 17 during his remarks at an international colloquium on the complementarity of man and woman.

The Philadelphia World Meeting of Families will take place from Sept. 22-27. Even before the Pope's announcement, the meeting was expected to draw tens of thousands of people. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia had told a gathering of Catholic bishops last week that a papal visit would likely result in crowds of about 1 million.

A global Catholic event, the world meeting seeks to support and strengthen families. St. John Paul II founded the event in 1994, and it takes place every three years.

Archbishop Chaput had previously hinted that Pope Francis would attend the 2015 meeting, although he cautioned that the visit had not been officially confirmed. In March 2014, a Pennsylvania delegation including Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter visited the Vatican to help encourage the Pope to visit the U.S.

On Thursday, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the head of the Holy See’s permanent observer mission to the United Nations, told the Associated Press “if he comes to Philadelphia, he will come to New York.”

The 70th anniversary of the U.N.’s founding would be “the ideal time” for a papal visit, the archbishop said Nov. 13. Next year also marks the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s 1965 visit to the U.N., the first such visit from a Pope.

In August, on his return flight from South Korea, Pope Francis said he wanted to visit the U.S. in 2015 for the Philadelphia gathering. He also noted that he had received invitations from President Barack Obama, Congress and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, as well as from Mexico.
However, despite the anticipation of the Pope's possible visit to New York and Washington while in the U.S., Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. told journalists shortly after the announcement that as of now nothing else is confirmed.
The Pope, he explained, “didn't say anything about any other steps or moments in his trip to America. He guaranteed his presence to the organizers of the World Day for Families, but as for the rest, I have no concrete information.”
Pope Francis has visited the Holy Land and Albania as well as South Korea. He will visit France and Turkey in November, and Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January 2015. He will return to France for a longer visit in 2015.

In June, the Pope accepted an invitation to visit Mexico, though a date for the visit was not announced.

The World Meeting of Families will take place shortly before the October 2015 meeting of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, which will discuss the mission of the family in the Church and in the world.

At the last World Meeting of Families in Milan, Italy, in 2012, more than 1 million people representing 153 nations attended a papal Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.

The 2015 meeting's theme is “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.” The meeting will include many speakers and breakout sessions. Keynote speakers include Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, Cardinal Robert Sarah, professor Helen Alvare, and Dr. Juan Francisco de la Guardia Brin and Gabriela N. de la Guardia.

The Philadelphia meeting will mark the first time that the event will be held in the United States.

Extracts from EWTNNews