Pope Francis: You can’t spread God’s love from an armchair By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Oct 14, 2017 / 06:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Saturday Pope Francis said that to share God’s love with the world requires action and service – and that we can’t just sit around and wait for other people to perform our vocation. “Love is dynamic, it goes out of itself,” the Pope said Oct. 14. The person who loves does not just sit in an armchair watching and waiting for the world to improve. Instead, he or she “with enthusiasm and simplicity gets up and goes.” As St. Vincent de Paul said, our vocation is not merely to go to one parish or diocese, but to go throughout the earth, he continued. And what do we do? We “inflame the hearts of men, doing what the Son of God did, he who came to bring fire to the world to inflame it with his love.” The vocation to love, Francis said, “is always valuable for everyone.” Pope Francis spoke to members of the Vincentian Family during a celebration in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 14 celebrating the 400th anniversary of the start of the charism of the Vincentian Family, a group of organizations founded by or under the inspiration of St. Vincent de Paul. A 17th-century French priest, St. Vincent is known as the patron of Catholic charities for his apostolic work among the poor and marginalized. The meeting was part of a week-long symposium in Rome which included Mass, prayer services and talks. In their audience, Francis said he wanted to encourage the members of the Vincentian Family to continue their journey of charity. Besides the verb “to go,” he offered two other simple words he said are of great importance for “the Vincentian spirit but also for Christian life in general:” To worship and to welcome. For St. Vincent, worship of God, or prayer, was essential, the Pope said. There are many invitations from him in his writing encouraging us to cultivate an inner life, devoting ourselves to prayer, which "purifies and opens the heart,” he said. St. Vincent considered prayer like the compass of every day, the “manual of life.” Only through prayer can we draw from God the love that we then pour into the world, he continued. But the saint didn't consider prayer a set of formulas or a sterile duty, he continued. Prayer, for St. Vincent, was to stand before God, being with him and devoting yourself to him. “This is the most pure prayer, the one that makes room for the Lord and his praise, and nothing else: adoration,” he said. "Here is adoration: to stand before the Lord, with respect, with calm and in silence, giving him the first place," abandoning oneself with confidence. Whatever the situation or problem, those who spend time worshiping God can't help but be "contaminated" by the living source of love, he continued. Which makes us want to treat others like we have been treated by the Lord. Those who spend time in worship and adoration become "more merciful, more sympathetic, more available, above rigidity and open to others." When we think of the verb “to welcome,” we often think of doing something, like performing an act of hospitality or the like, Francis said. But it actually has more to do with a way of thinking. Welcoming is really "a slow detachment from all that is mine: my time, my rest, my rights, my plans, my agenda." The Christian is truly welcoming who sets aside his or her own ego in favor of sowing peace and concord and communion, even when not reciprocated. “Thank you for moving in the streets of the world, as St. Vincent would ask you today,” the Pope concluded. I hope you continue to draw God’s love from adoration, spreading it throughout the world, through the “good contagion” of charity. “I bless all of you and the poor you meet.” https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...-cant-spread-gods-love-from-an-armchair-66199
Well err yes and no.. I hope I am wrong but I fear the modern , Liberal up to date Catholic might think these guys a waste of space.
Beautiful pictures folks but none of the above spread their love from armchairs! They are all examples of love in action! As Pope Francis says in the above talk: When we think of the verb “to welcome,” we often think of doing something, like performing an act of hospitality or the like, Francis said. But it actually has more to do with a way of thinking. Welcoming is really "a slow detachment from all that is mine: my time, my rest, my rights, my plans, my agenda." The Christian is truly welcoming who sets aside his or her own ego in favor of sowing peace and concord and communion, even when not reciprocated.
AND GOD'S LOVE IS HIS TRUTH. IT IS NOT A MERE HUMAN ACTIVITY, BUT ONE THAT DOES EVERYTHING OUT OF LOVE FOR GOD AND HIS TRUTH. TO MANY TODAY ARE DO-GOODER'S WHO'S END IS NOT ORDERED TOWARDS GOD OR HIS TRUTH, BUT TOWARDS SELF.
The one great thing from Vatican II was the universal call to holiness of all believers lay, priest and Pope.
How about St. Faustina, she was bedridden with Tuberculosis? How about Blessed Catherine Emmerich? How about Blessed Elena Aiello? There are many more of these blessed and saints who became victim souls and yet they never left their beds. There are innumerable unkown lay people who pray ceaselessly for the lost souls, who are in nursing homes or in wheelchairs or at home as care givers to other souls, how about these people?
No wonder Pope Francis is so misunderstood when even such a simple homily can be read in such a negative way! It shouldn't need to be 'explained' that Francis is calling us to active love - as he says, “Love is dynamic, it goes out of itself”. Of course! And they are perfect examples of the active love Francis is talking about! The problem that has developed with regard to Pope Francis is that his critics are simply not 'listening' to what he is trying to teach us but are only trying to find something to criticize.
You are the one David reading our posts in a negative way. I agree with Pope Francis that saints aren't made on an armchair but on their knees. You are able to see a negative in a positive I am afraid to say.
When I posted saints are made on their knees -- this is not literal for I know some people cannot kneel. Kneeling is symbolic language for someone who submits their whole will to the will of God.
When God is adored and worshiped in prayer we encounter true love and radiance which transforms us so that we become alter Christus to those whom we meet and this radiance is attractive. We encounter Christ in prayer - we go beyond the veil into the holy of holies to be transformed by his love. We then go forth to share the good news with our deeds and the joy that is in our souls. As Christians we can do nothing without Christ. Without Christ we are merely social workers. With Christ we become saints.
Out hearts are set on fire when we are consumed by the fire of his His Sacred Heart. We need to encounter God in order to truly know God and this is done on our knees pleading like the deer that pants for the water so my soul aches for you My God and Saviour. Oh sweet Sacred Heart of Jesus give us all the grace to have hearts like yours burning with love of God and Love of neighbour. St Vincent de Paul, pray for us.
