"Without Christ we have no identity." From "street people" he makes us "fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God". "Instead, the pagan - and we Christians often behave like pagans - forget Jesus, thinks of himself, of his things, not waiting for Jesus. The selfish pagan acts as if he were a god: 'I can manage on my own'. And this ends badly, it ends without a name, without closeness, without citizenship".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "The Christian is a man or a woman who knows how to wait for Jesus and this is a man or woman of hope" said Pope Francis during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, commenting on the passage in the Gospel of Luke, of the master who returns from the wedding feast and the Letter to the Ephesians.

In the first, Christ spoke to his disciples, comparing himself to the master who returns late at night from a wedding feast and calls the servants who wait for him, awake and with lighted lamps, "blessed". The scene that follows sees Jesus become the servant of his servants and bring their lunch to the table. The first service that the Master does for Christians, the Pope pointed out, is give them their "identity." "Without Christ we have no identity." Francis linked this to what St. Paul writes: " You were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel". "What Jesus came to do for us - he commented - is to give us nationality, membership of a nation, our first and last name". Thus, from "enemies without peace," Christ "bound us together" with "his blood", "breaking down the wall of separation that divides." "We all know that when we are not at peace with  people, there is a wall. There is a wall that divides us. Yet Jesus offers his service to break down this wall, so we can meet each other. And if we are divided, we're not friends, we are enemies. And he did more, he reconciled us to God. He has reconciled us with God: from enemies, friends; from strangers, children".

From "street people" to "fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God" as St. Paul put it. "But what is the condition?" asked the Pope. "We must wait." "We must wait for Jesus. Whoever does not wait for Jesus, closes the door to Jesus, they do not let him do this work of building peace, community, citizenship, moreover: naming. He gives us a name. He makes us children of God. This is the attitude of waiting for Jesus, that is within Christian hope. A Christian is a man or a woman of hope. We know that the Lord will come. He will really come? We do not know the hour, like these. We do not know the hour , but he will come, he will come to visit us, but not to see us isolated, enemies, no. To encounter each other as he has encountered us in service: as close friends, in peace".

At this point, there is another question that the Christian may ask: How do I wait for Jesus? And before that: "Should I wait or not?". "Do I believe in this hope, that He will come? Do I have an open heart, to hear the noise when he knocks at the door, when he opens the door? The Christian - he concluded - is a man or a woman who knows how to wait and Jesus for this is a man or woman of hope. Instead, the pagan - and we Christians often behave like pagans - forget Jesus, thinks of himself, of his things, not waiting for Jesus. The selfish pagan acts as if he were a god: 'I can manage on my own'. And this ends badly, it ends without a name, without closeness, without citizenship".

 

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