At the general audience Francis illustrates the concept of the Church as a temple built of "living stones". "The Church is not a mix of things and interests, but it is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the temple in which God works." "There is nothing worse than a tired, bored, indifferent Christian: it is bad, wrong, a Christian must be joyful to be a Christian, to be a part of God's people."

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - In the Church "No one is useless, we are all needed to build the temple made up of living stones", "nobody is secondary", "we are all equal, and if someone says, but you, Mr. Pope, are more important, it is not true, we are all equal. " This is how Francis summed up, the concept of the Church as the temple of living stones today, speaking to 70 thousand people present in St Peter's Square for this last general audience before the summer break.  They will resume on August 7.

"The word temple - he said - makes us think of a building, a building and the mind goes to the history of the people of Israel" who had built the temple in Jerusalem, in which there was the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets of the law, the manna and the rod of Aaron, signs that God was always close to the people, he had guided and accompanied their steps. "

"The ancient temple was built by human hands, was made to give a home to God", "The Church is the temple in which dwells the Holy Spirit, who animates, guides and sustains her. If we ask ourselves, "Where we can meet God? Where can we enter into communion with Him through Christ? Where can we find the light of the Holy Spirit to enlighten our lives?" the answer is, "in the People of God, among us, for we are Church - among us, within the People of God, in the Church - there we shall meet Jesus, we shall meet the Holy Spirit, we shall meet the Father.The ancient temple was built by the hands of men: they wanted to "give a home" to God, to have a visible sign of His presence among the people. With the Incarnation of the Son of God, the prophecy of Nathan to King David is fulfilled (cf. 2 Sam 7.1 to 29): it is not the king, it is not we, who are to "give a home to God," but God Himself who "builds his house" to come and dwell among us, as St. John writes in the Prologue of his Gospel (cf. 1:14). Christ is the living Temple of the Father, and Christ himself builds His "spiritual home", the Church, made not of stone materials, but of "living stones" - of us, our very selves. The Apostle Paul says to the Christians of Ephesus: you are "Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: in whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into an holy temple in the Lord.(Eph 2:20-22)" How beautiful this is! We are the living stones of God, profoundly united to Christ, who is the rock of support, and among ourselves. What then, does this mean? It means that we are the Temple - the Church, but, us, living - we are Church, we are [the] living temple, and within us, when we are together, there is the Holy Spirit, who helps us grow as Church. We are not isolated, we are People of God - and this is the Church: People of God".

"The Church is not a weave of things and interests, it is rather the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Temple in which God works, the Temple in which each of us with the gift of Baptism is living stone. This tells us that no one is useless in the Church - no on is useless in the Church! - and should anyone chance to say, some one of you, "Get home with you, you're useless!" that is not true. No one is useless in the Church. We are all needed in order to build this temple. No one is secondary: "Ah, I am the most important one in the Church!" No! We are all equal in the eyes of God. But, one of you might say, "Mr. Pope, sir, you are not equal to us." But I am just like each of you. We are all equal. We are all brothers and sisters. No one is anonymous: all form and build the Church. Nevertheless, it also invites us to reflect on the fact that the Temple wants the brick of our Christian life, that something is wanting in the beauty of the Church".

"All together no one can leave." But, " how do we live our being Church? We are living stones? Are we rather, so to speak, tired stones, bored, indifferent? Have any of you ever noticed how ugly a tired, bored, indifferent Christian is? It's an ugly sight. A Christian has to be lively, joyous, he has to live this beautiful thing that is the People of God, the Church. Do we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, so as to be an active part of our communities, or do we close in on ourselves, saying, "I have so many things to do, that's not my job."? "May the Lord  - concluded the Pope - grant us His grace, His strength, so that we can be deeply united to Christ, the cornerstone, stone of support for all of our lives and the life of the Church. Let us pray that, animated by His Spirit, we might always be living stones of the Church".

 

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