I was reading part of Pope Francis' homily from a Confirmation he celebrated on April 28. Part of it just really struck me and inspired me to be stronger in my faith and swim against the tide.
Here's an excerpt
from his homily:
And here I come to my last point. It is an
invitation which I make to you, young confirmandi,
and to all present. Remain steadfast in the journey
of faith, with firm hope in the Lord. This is the
secret of our journey! He gives us the courage to
swim against the tide. Pay attention, my young
friends: to go against the current; this is good for
the heart, but we need courage to swim against the
tide.
Jesus gives us this courage!
There are no
difficulties, trials or misunderstandings to fear,
provided we remain united to God as branches to the
vine, provided we do not lose our friendship with
him, provided we make ever more room for him in our
lives. This is especially so whenever we feel poor,
weak and sinful, because God grants strength to our
weakness, riches to our poverty, conversion and
forgiveness to our sinfulness.
The Lord is so rich
in mercy: every time, if we go to him, he forgives
us. Let us trust in God’s work! With him we can do
great things; he will give us the joy of being his
disciples, his witnesses. Commit yourselves to great
ideals, to the most important things. We Christians
were not chosen by the Lord for little things; push
onwards toward the highest principles. Stake your
lives on noble ideals, my dear young people! The new things of God, the trials of life,
remaining
steadfast in the Lord.
Dear friends, let us open
wide the door of our lives to the new things of God
which the Holy Spirit gives us. May he transform us,
confirm us in our trials, strengthen our union with
the Lord, our steadfastness in him: this is a true
joy! So may it be.
Is it just me or is our new Pope really wonderful? He speaks in such a simple yet eloquent way. His words set your heart ablaze and make you want to live a stronger life in Christ. He makes holiness seem attainable. His words make me look at the Catholic faith in a new light. I'm excited to see how the Holy Spirit will work through this amazing man.
Pope Francis is pretty awesome! I would like to read more of the Holy Father's works but I can't read enspanol, maybe u can??? I like ur pic and Papal quote too and it reminds me of what G.k. Chesterton said "A dead thing goes with the stream. Only a living thing can go against it.” That gave me some inspiration for today! Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, can kinda read in ESPANOL. I can try. I guess you could email an article or something and I could attempt to translate it for you... No promises on how good it would be, but I'd like to try :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a good quote from G.K. Chesterson. I think I've heard it before... somewhere...
I'm glad I inspired you somehow. It was probably the Holy Spirit :P But I'm glad I'm not just writing things for the heck of it and that someone is actually reading it ;D