{"id":5906,"date":"2014-03-30T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-30T11:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/be-open-to-the-light-of-christ-encourages-pope\/"},"modified":"2014-03-30T11:27:00","modified_gmt":"2014-03-30T11:27:00","slug":"be-open-to-the-light-of-christ-encourages-pope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/03\/be-open-to-the-light-of-christ-encourages-pope\/","title":{"rendered":"Be open to the light of Christ, encourages Pope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Vatican City, Mar 30, 2014 \/ 05:27 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- During his Sunday Angelus message, Pope Francis urged the faithful to open themselves to the light of Christ and not be hindered by pride or interior blindness.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cSometimes unfortunately \u2026 from the height of our pride we judge others, and even the Lord! Today, we are invited to open ourselves to the light of Christ to bear fruit in our lives, to get rid of the behaviors that are not Christian,\u201d Pope Francis encouraged those gathered in St. Peter\u2019s square on March 30.<\/p>\n

\tThe pontiff reflected on a passage from Sunday\u2019s reading from the Gospel of John, which recounts the story of Jesus healing a man born blind. The scholars of the law seek to undermine Jesus\u2019 work and words, sinking \u201cdeeper and deeper into their interior blindness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cLocked in their presumption, they believe they already have the light, and for this reason are not open to the truth of Jesus. They do everything they can to deny the obvious,\u201d explained the Pope.<\/p>\n

\tIn contrast to the blind man who is healed by Jesus and \u201cgradually approaches the light,\u201d the scholars of the law show a \u201cclosure to the light\u201d that \u201cbecomes aggressive\u201d and leads to the expulsion of the healed man from the temple.<\/p>\n

\tThe path of the blind man is a \u201cjourney in stages, starting from the knowledge of the name of Jesus,\u201d said Pope Francis.<\/p>\n

\tAfter being healed by Jesus, the man considers him first a \u201cprophet,\u201d then a \u201cman close to God.\u201d Only after he is excluded from the temple and has a second encounter with Jesus does he recognize him as the Messiah.<\/p>\n

\tThis story demonstrates \u201cthe drama of interior blindness of many people, and ours also, because we have many moments of interior blindness,\u201d reflected the Pontiff.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAll of us \u2014 everyone, eh? \u2014 have acted, sometimes, not like Christians, because we are sinners, no? And we have to repent of this in order to walk the path of sanctity decisively,\u201d he urged.<\/p>\n

\tThis path begins in baptism when we are \u201cilluminated\u201d by Christ. Through our baptism, \u201cwe can carry ourselves as \u2018sons of the light,\u2019 with humility, patience, mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tPope Francis then suggested that those present should meditate on today\u2019s gospel.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhen you return home, take the Gospel of John, read this passage from chapter nine, and do it well\u2026 we ask ourselves, how are our hearts? How is my heart? How is your heart? How are our hearts? Do I have a heart that is open or a heart that is closed? Open, or closed toward God? Open or closed toward my neighbor?\u201d<\/p>\n

\tEveryone has a certain element of being closed in his heart, which is \u201cborn of sin,\u201d acknowledged the Holy Father. Yet this should not lead to discouragement.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid!\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cLet us open ourselves to the Lord. He always waits for us. He always waits for us, to make us better, to give us light, to forgive us. Don\u2019t forget that! He\u2019s always waiting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tPope Francis then led the faithful in the Angelus prayer and greeted the many groups of pilgrims present before wishing everyone a \u201cgood Sunday and a good lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vatican City, Mar 30, 2014 \/ 05:27 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- During his Sunday Angelus message, Pope Francis urged the faithful to open themselves to the light of Christ and not be hindered by pride or interior blindness.<\/p>\n

\t“Sometimes unfortunately ….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nBe open to the light of Christ, encourages Pope<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Mar 30, 2014 \/ 05:27 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- During his Sunday Angelus message, Pope Francis urged the faithful to open themselves to the light of Christ and not be hindered by pride or interior blindness. “Sometimes unfortunately ....\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/03\/be-open-to-the-light-of-christ-encourages-pope\/\" \/>\n<meta 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