The devil “seduces us; he knows how to appeal to our vanity and curiosity and we buy it all,” the pope said during his homily at Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae where he lives.
In an age when technology is ever-evolving, Catholic news organisations must be willing to adapt to effectively proclaim the Gospel to all, Pope Francis said.
Baptism requires rejecting Satan and professing one’s full faith in God, Pope Francis said. Only by being able to say “no” to the devil, his works and empty promises “am I able to say ‘yes’ to God, who calls me to conform myself to him in thoughts and deeds,” he said.
Forgiveness is a message Pope Francis has preached to us quite often. In mid-April, Pope Francis found himself asking for forgiveness from Chilean survivors of clergy of sexual abuse.
The church is like a bicycle – it stays upright as long as it keeps moving, Pope Francis said. The first disciples “were not a closed group of the elect, but a missionary church,” boldly undertaking new initiatives prompted by the Holy Spirit, the pope said during his early morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae.
Ah, but you might say “Holiness is for saintly people like the pope. But the pope says holiness is for you and me, and that everyone is called by God “to be holy and blameless before him in love” (Eph. 1:4).
Baptism / Church / Holy Spirit / Pope Francis
Those who receive the sacrament are given the strength to overcome “the temptation to separate from God, from his will, from communion with him and fall into the snares of worldly seductions,” the pope said during his weekly general audience.
The pope’s prayer intention for May is that the lay faithful may fulfil their specific mission, by responding with creativity to the challenges that face the world today.
Heaven is not an eternally dull existence but rather the completion of a journey toward a promised encounter with the Lord, Pope Francis said.
