{"id":39807,"date":"2013-05-22T22:50:50","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T03:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=39807"},"modified":"2013-05-22T23:07:56","modified_gmt":"2013-05-23T04:07:56","slug":"what-did-the-pope-just-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/05\/what-did-the-pope-just-say\/","title":{"rendered":"What Did the Pope Just Say?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"inigo_montoya\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hold your horses, Huffington Post<\/a>.The Pope did not just change the doctrine of the Catholic church.<\/p>\n

Protestants… take a deep breath before you point fingers and claim that Catholics believe you have to work your way into heaven and that Pope Francis just said so.<\/p>\n

Are we calmed down? \u00a0Good. \u00a0Let\u2019s take a look at what Pope Francis actually said in his homily earlier today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To borrow a line from The Princess Bride: \u201cI do not think it means what you think it means.\u201d<\/p>\n

First and foremost, Pope Francis issued a challenge to Catholics: don\u2019t look at non-Catholics and assume the worst of them. \u00a0We, as Catholics, he said are not the only ones capable of doing good in the world. \u00a0Rather, all humanity was created in the image of God and, as such, has the capacity for good. \u00a0The apostles spoke in judgment of those who were not of their fold. \u00a0Don\u2019t do that, Pope Francis said. \u00a0You are not the judge of their heart.<\/p>\n

Second, he issued a challenge to the unbelieving world: whether you believe it or not, Christ died for you! \u00a0The sacrifice of Christ was intended to be universal, covering all sins. \u00a0It was a gift given freely and intended for all. \u00a0That is not to say that all allow themselves, in faith, to receive the gift.<\/p>\n

Finally, a challenge for all humanity: stop dividing yourselves into categories of the believers and unbelievers. \u00a0The body of Christ was never intended to be a clique, separated from the world. \u00a0Whether we are believers in Christ or not, all of us are capable of love and some measure of good because we are created in God\u2019s image and God is love. \u00a0We are called to focus on what binds us, to put the nasty rhetoric aside and celebrate what makes us human.<\/p>\n

In the words of Jesus, the thief comes to \u201csteal, kill and destroy.\u201d \u00a0This is exactly what he\u2019s doing in the vitriolic debates that rage in the comment boxes between Christians and atheists (and sometimes other Christians). \u00a0The goal, Pope Francis says, in focusing on our common good is to \u201cmake that culture of encounter.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll let the man speak for himself:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. \u2018But I don\u2019t believe, Father, I am an atheist!\u2019 But do good: we will meet one another there.\u201d<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hold your horses, Huffington Post.The Pope did not just change the doctrine of the Catholic church. Protestants… take a deep breath before you point fingers and claim that Catholics believe you have to work your way into heaven and that Pope Francis just said so. Are we calmed down? \u00a0Good. \u00a0Let\u2019s take a look at… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-acnm","category-blog","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t