Posted on 04/25/2013 7:03:23 AM PDT by marshmallow
Christians know they will be judged at the end of time on how they used the talents God gave them and how they served others, especially the poor, Pope Francis said at his at his weekly general audience.
After a long tour in the Popemobile among the more than 80,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis continued his audience talks about the affirmations of faith in the creed.
While teaching about belief in the second coming of Christ and the Last Judgment, Pope Francis also spoke about what it means to live in “the intermediary time,” the time between the death and resurrection of Christ and his coming again.
It is a “time of vigilance when we must keep the lamp of faith, hope and charity burning, a time when we must keep our hearts open to goodness, beauty and truth. It’s a time to live according to God, because we do not know the day or the hour of Christ’s return,” he explained.
Christians continually must look for signs of God’s presence, Pope Francis said, before adding: “Do not fall asleep. The life of a sleeping Christian is a sad life.”
Pope Francis also spoke about the importance of using the talents God gives each person, and, in both Italian and Spanish, he urged young people to recognise their gifts and seek ways to use them to serve God, others and the whole world.
“Do not be afraid to dream big dreams,” he told them.
Faith is a gift and salvation is a grace, he added, “but in order to bear fruit, God’s grace requires us to be open, to give a free and concrete response.”
The parable in St Matthew’s Gospel about the Last Judgment, using the image of a shepherd separating the sheep from the.....
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicherald.co.uk ...
Please know that voting for government programs is NOT “helping the poor”.
Gov’t programs have the effect of creating a permenent dependent class and encourage the able bodied to a life of laziness.
True charity requires direct, personal involvement.
Agreed. Voting for Government programs is equal to Theft + Coveting your neighbors stuff at the same time.
Francis is right - the parable of the Sheep and the Goats is going to play out at our personal Judgements.
“Do not be afraid to dream big dreams,” he told them.” ,p .
But remember, realizing a “big dream” is generally the end result of a long series of very small tasks.
One stipulation of receiving charity from the local monastery was that you had to be in real need. The people did not like lazy people begging for help when they truly could do for themselves.
When Henry took over the Church, besides destroying the entire monastery system, he also stole all of the endowments connected to the monasteries who were given the role of doling out charity to the poor, the money being given to them through the surrounding parishes.
The government took the funds and then did not replace it with anything. So, guess where the poor went? They began to move to London - a la Charles Dickens.
Begging became such a problem that Elizabeth had "beggar laws" passed which if you were caught begging you would be jailed for the first offense. If you continued to beg you could have a hole drilled through your ear with a hot poker. Some beggars were hung for begging.
The government tends to do a rather shoddy job when it comes to taking care of the poor.
I like this pope so much. We shouldn’t forget the Spiritual Works of Mercy either. I’m sure he’ll get to that soon.
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