“The birth of Jesus from the womb of Mary is the prelude to the rebirth of every Christian in the womb of the church”

“The birth of Jesus from the womb of Mary is the prelude to the rebirth of every Christian in the womb of the church” September 3, 2014

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During his audience today, Pope Francis had some consoling words for persecuted Christians in Iraq, and also spoke beautifully about the Church’s role as a mother to us all:

“We are not orphans! We have a mom, a mother” in the church and in Mary, he said.

“The birth of Jesus from the womb of Mary, in fact, is the prelude to the rebirth of every Christian in the womb of the church,” he said.

That is why a person never becomes a Christian on his or her own, through his or her own efforts, but is “born and raised in the faith inside that great body that is the church,” said the pope.

From the moment of Baptism, when a child is reborn a son or daughter of the church, the church, “just like a devoted mother, offers her children the spiritual nourishment that fortifies and makes bountiful the Christian life,” he said.

“We are all called to welcome with an open mind and heart the Word of God that the church offers every day because this Word has the ability to change us from within. Only the Word of God can do this,” he said.

“And who gives us this Word of God? The mother church! She nurses us as children with this Word. She raises us throughout our whole lives with this Word” and she teaches her children how to walk “the path of salvation” toward Christ.

“The church exerts itself to show the faithful the road to take to live a fruitful life of joy and peace” in a world filled with darkness, pain and temptation, he said.

“The church guides us and accompanies us with the power of the Gospel and the support of the sacraments (which give) us the ability to defend ourselves from evil.”

“The church has the courage of a mother who knows she must protect her children from the dangers that come from Satan’s presence in the world, in order to lead them to an encounter with Jesus,” he said.

The pope said people shouldn’t be naive about evil and temptation, but should “resist with the advice of their mother, resist with the help of the mother church because a good mother always is by the side of her children during hard times.”

“This is the church we all love, the church I love! — a mother that has in her heart, the well-being of her children and is willing to give her life for them.”

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