Pope: To really know Jesus we need to pray, worship and recognize our sins

It’s not enough to read the Gospel and study the catechism.  We have to be like St. Paul and "plunge" into the "immense sea that is the person of Christ."

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - To really know Jesus we need to pray, worship and recognize our sins said Pope Francis at Mass this morning in Santa Marta, taking a cue from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians where the Apostle of the Gentiles asked that the Holy Spirit offers to the Ephesians the grace to "be strong, strengthened" to ensure that Christ may dwell in their hearts. "There is the center."

Paul, the Pope observed, "plunges" in the "immense sea that is the person of Christ." But "how can we know Christ?", How can we understand "the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge" ?. "Christ is present in the Gospel, reading the Gospel we know Christ.  We all hear the Gospel when we go to Mass. With the study of the catechism: The catechism teaches us who Christ is. But this is not enough. To be able to understand the breadth and length and height and depth of Jesus Christ we must enter into a context, first, of  prayer, as does Paul, on his knees: 'Father, send me the Spirit to know Jesus Christ'".

To really know Christ, then, prayer is necessary. But Paul, "not only prays, he worships this mystery which surpasses all knowledge and in a context of worship asks for this grace" from the Lord. "Do you know the Lord without this habit of worship, to worship in silence, worship. I think, if I'm not mistaken, that this prayer of adoration is the least known to us,  it is what we do less. Waste time - I dare say - before the LORD, before the mystery of Jesus Christ. Worship. And there in silence, the silence of adoration. He is the Lord and we love him”.

Third, the Pope continued, "to know Christ we must be conscious of ourselves, that is, get in the habit of recognizing ourselves as "sinners." "You cannot worship without recognizing our sins. To get into this bottomless sea without shores, which is the mystery of Jesus Christ, these things are necessary. Prayer: 'Father, send me the Spirit to lead me to know Jesus'. Second, adoration of the mystery, enter into the mystery, worshiping. And third, recognizing our sins: 'I am a man of unclean lips'. May the Lord give us the grace that Paul calls for the Ephesians also for us this grace to know and gain Christ. "

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