"If you find yourself in front of an atheist and he tells you that he does not believe in God, you can read him a whole library, where it says that God exists and also prove that God exists, and he will still not believe. But if you give a coherent witness of Christian life to this atheist, something will begin to work in his heart".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The Christian who does not live their faith authentically causes scandal and Jesus condemns scandal, which "kills. A confirmation administered during the Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta gave occasion to Pope Francis to once again warn about the need for coherence between faith and life.

Vatican Radio reports that the Pope took his cue from a Confirmation administered during the mass. Who receives this Sacrament - Pope Francis said - "manifests his desire to be a Christian. To be a Christian means to witness to Jesus Christ: be a person who "thinks as a Christian, feels as a Christian and acts as a Christian. And this is the consistency of the life of a Christian. He observed a person can be said to have faith" but if he is lacking just one of these things, he's no Christian", "there's something wrong, there is a certain inconsistency". And Christians "who live ordinarily, normally in an inconsistent way, do a lot of damage".

"We heard what the Apostle Saint James says to some incoherent, those who boasted of being Christian but exploited their employees, he said: Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers
who harvested your fields are crying aloud; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.  The Lord is strong. If one hears this he may think: 'A Communist said this!'. No, no, the Apostle James said it! It is the Word of the Lord. Inconsistency is when there is no Christian consistency and one lives in this incoherent way, which causes scandal. And Christians that are not consistent are a cause of scandal".

"Jesus - the Pope said - speaks out loudly against scandal: "If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea". An inconsistent Christian causes so much "damage" and "scandal kills". "So many times - added Pope Francis - we have heard: 'But Father, I believe in God, but not in the Church, because you Christians say one thing and do another". And again: "I ​​believe in God, but not in you" This is from inconsistency".

"If you find yourself in front of an atheist and he tells you that he does not believe in God, you can read him a whole library, where it says that God exists and also prove that God exists, and he will still not believe. But if you give a coherent witness of Christian life to this atheist, something will begin to work in his heart. It will be your witness that will bring this restlessness to him through which the Holy Spirit works. It is a grace that all of us, the whole Church must ask: 'Lord, grant that we may be consistent".

So, the Pope concluded, we must pray, "because we need prayer to live consistently as Christians, because Christian integrity is a gift from God and we must ask", "Lord, make me consistent! Lord, grant that I never cause scandal, that I may be a person who thinks like a Christian, who feels as a Christian, who acts as a Christian". And when we fall because of our weakness, we ask for forgiveness.

"We are all sinners, all , but we all have the ability to ask for forgiveness. And He never gets tired of forgiving! Having the humility to ask for forgiveness, 'Lord, I have not been consistent here. Forgive me!'. Move ahead in life with Christian integrity, with witness of one who believes in Jesus Christ, who knows that he is a sinner, but who has the courage to ask for forgiveness when he makes mistakes and that is so afraid causing scandal. May the Lord give us all this grace".

 

• VATICAN
• POPE
• FRANCIS
• MASS
• CASA
• SANTA
• MARTA