In his general audience with the faithful this Wednesday morning, His Holiness Pope Francis continued the series of teachings on the subject of vices and virtues and pointed out that the Christian’s spiritual life is a continuous struggle to preserve the faith.
On Wednesday morning, His Holiness Pope Francis held his general audience with the faithful in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican, the first at the beginning of the new year, and he began it by recalling the beginning of last week’s series of teachings on vices and virtues. He said that it is a topic that reminds of the Christian’s spiritual struggle, and he added that the Christian’s spiritual life is not empty. One of the challenges, on the contrary, it requires continuous effort to maintain the faith and enrich the gifts of faith in us.
The Holy Father pointed out that saints are not people free from temptation, but rather they are people who are well aware that evil temptations appear again and again in life, and must be exposed and rejected. On the other hand, there are other people who forgive themselves and think that they are “okay.” They risk living in the darkness because they are accustomed to the darkness and do not know the difference between good and evil. He continued, saying that we must all ask God for the grace to acknowledge that we are sinners and need to repent, maintaining in our hearts trust in the infinite mercy of God the Father. It is the inaugural teaching that Jesus gives us, Pope Francis said, and continued, pointing out that we see it in the first pages of the Gospel, and above all when he tells us about the baptism of Christ in the waters of the Jordan River. This incident contains something amazing. What sin must Jesus repent of? There is no sin. Even John the Baptist was shocked, and the Gospel tells us, “He caused John to object to him and said, ‘I need to be baptized by you. Will you come to me?’” (Matthew 3:15). Pope Francis continued, pointing out that Jesus never leaves us alone. In the worst The moments, in the moments when we fall into sins, Jesus is near us to help us rise. We should not forget that, Jesus is by our side to help us and protect us, and also to lift us up after the sin. He never forgets to forgive, but we often lose the ability to ask for forgiveness. .
Immediately after baptism, Pope Francis added, the Gospels tell us about Jesus going into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan. In this case too, we ask ourselves: Why should the Son of God know temptation? In this case too, Jesus shows a firm solidarity with the fragility of our human nature and becomes our greatest example: the trials that he went through and overcame among the barren stones of the desert are the first teaching that he gives to our lives as disciples. He experienced what we too must always be ready to face: life is made of challenges, experiences, hidden temptations, and contradictory voices. We must maintain inner serenity, Pope Francis said, in order to choose the path that truly leads us to happiness, and then commit to not stopping along the way.
The Holy Father continued his weekly teaching, pointing out that we must remember that we are always between two extremes: pride challenges humility; Hatred is the opposite of love; Sadness hinders the true joy of the soul; The hardness of the heart rejects mercy. He then stressed the importance of thinking about vices and virtues, because this will help us overcome the culture of nihilism, where the boundaries between good and evil are blurred, and at the same time it will remind us that man can always transcend himself, through openness to God and moving towards holiness.
His Holiness Pope Francis concluded his weekly teaching this Wednesday morning in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican, saying that spiritual struggle leads us to look closely at those vices that restrict us, and to walk, with God’s grace, toward those virtues that can grow in us, bringing the spring of the spirit into our lives.
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2024-01-03 13:45:56
