{"id":35881,"date":"2014-11-07T08:08:58","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T13:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=35881"},"modified":"2016-09-30T15:42:44","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T19:42:44","slug":"pope-warns-against-becoming-pagan-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/pope-warns-against-becoming-pagan-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope warns against becoming “pagan Christians”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From his homily<\/a><\/strong> this morning:<\/p>\n

\n

Even today there are \u201cpagan Christians\u201d who \u201cbehave like enemies of the Cross of Christ\u201d, said Pope Francis at morning Mass Friday at Casa Santa Marta, warning that we must guard against the temptations of a worldly society that lead us to ruin.<\/p>\n

\"OSSROM12274_LancioGrande\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pope Francis was inspired by the words of St. Paul to the Philippians to dwell on two groups of Christians, still present today as they were in the time of the Apostle of the Gentiles. Christians who go forward in faith and Christians who \u201clive like enemies of the Cross of Christ\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth groups \u2013 he said \u2013 were in the Church together, they went to Mass on Sunday, they praised the Lord, they called themselves Christians\u201d. So what was the difference? The second group \u201cact like enemies of the Cross of Christ! Christians enemies of the Cross of Christ\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Pope said these were \u201cworldly Christians, Christians in name, with two or three Christian things, but nothing more. Pagan Christian\u201d. \u201cA Christian name, but a pagan life.\u201d Or to put it another way: \u201cPagans with two strokes of Christian paint, so as to appear like Christians, but pagans nonetheless\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven<\/strong>\u00a0today there are many! We must be careful not to slip toward the path of being pagan Christians, Christians in appearance. The temptation to get used to mediocrity, the mediocrity of Christians, these Christians, it is their undoing because their hearts cool, they become lukewarm. And the Lord had strong words for these lukewarm [Christians]: \u2018because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth\u2019. These are very strong words! They are enemies of the Cross of Christ. They take the name, but do not follow the requirements of Christian life\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul, he said, speaks of the \u201ccitizenship\u201d of Christians. \u201cOur citizenship,\u201d he noted, \u201cis in heaven. Theirs is on earth. They are citizens of the world, not of heaven\u201d. \u201cCitizens of the world. And their surname is worldly! Beware of these\u201d warned Pope Francis adding that everyone, himself including, must ask: \u201cDo I have something of these? Do I have some worldliness within me? Some paganism?\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I like to<\/strong>\u00a0brag? Do I like the money? Do I like pride, arrogance? Where are my roots, that is, where am I a citizen of? Heaven or earth? In the world or the worldly spirit? Our citizenship is in heaven, and we await heaven and Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And theirs? Their ultimate fate will be destruction! These painted Christians will end badly \u2026 But look at the end: where will that citizenship that you have in your heart lead you? The worldly one to ruin, that of the Cross of Christ to an encounter with Him<\/strong>\u201c.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pope then outlined a few signs \u201cof the heart\u201d that show us whether we \u201care sliding towards worldliness\u201d. \u201cIf you love and if you are attached to money, vanity and pride \u2013 he warned \u2013 you are heading towards the bad road\u201d. If, instead, \u201cyou try to love God, serve others, if you are gentle, if you are humble, if you are the servant of the other, you are on the right road. Your citizen\u2019s card is good: \u00a0it belongs to heaven\u201d. The other, by contrast, \u201cis a citizenship that will bring you only bad\u201d. The Pope pointed out that Jesus asked the Father to save his disciples \u201cfrom the spirit of the world, this worldliness, which leads to destruction\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Pope then turned his attention to the parable of the steward who cheated his master, told in the Gospel of the day:<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>How did this steward in the Gospel arrive at this point of cheating, of stealing from his master? How did he get there, from one day to the next? No! Little by little. One day a tip here, the next day a bribe there, and this is how little by little you arrive at corruption. The path of worldliness of these enemies of the Cross of Christ is like this, it leads you to corruption! And then you end up like this man, right? Openly stealing \u2026 \u201c<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pope Francis returned to the words of Paul, who asks us to remain \u201cfirm in the Lord\u201d without allowing our heart to weaken and end up in \u201cnothing, in corruption\u201d. \u201cThis is a good grace to seek \u2013 he said \u2013 remaining firm in the Lord. It is all of salvation, there lies transfiguration in glory\u201d. \u201cFirm in the Lord and following the example of the Cross of Christ: humility, poverty, meekness, service to others, worship, prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From his homily this morning: Even today there are \u201cpagan Christians\u201d who \u201cbehave like enemies of the Cross of Christ\u201d, said Pope Francis at morning Mass Friday at Casa Santa Marta, warning that we must guard against the temptations of a worldly society that lead us to ruin. Pope Francis was inspired by the words […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1413],"class_list":["post-35881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pope","tag-pope-francis"],"yoast_head":"\nPope warns against becoming "pagan Christians"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From his homily this morning: Even today there are "pagan Christians" who "behave like enemies of the Cross of Christ", said Pope Francis at morning Mass\" \/>\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\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/pope-warns-against-becoming-pagan-christians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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