Humility

June 14, 2013. (Romereports.com) When it comes to actually understanding and transmitting Christianity, Pope Francis said humility is needed. During his daily morning Mass at the Vatican, he explained thatrecognizing one's weakness and sinfulness is key. As an example, he said that even St. Paul, never forgot his past nor his sins.  

POPE FRANCIS

"Brothers, we have a treasure: that of Jesus Christ the Savior. The Cross of Jesus Christ, this treasure of which we pride ourselves - but we have it in a clay vessel. Let us vaunt also our ‘handbook’ of our sins. Thus is the dialogue Christian and Catholic: concrete, because the salvation of Jesus Christ is concrete. Jesus Christ has not saved us with an idea, an intellectual program, no. He saved with His flesh, with the concreteness of flesh. He is lowered, made man, made flesh until the end. This is a gift that we can only understand, only receive, in earthen vessels." 

Among those attending the Mass, were members of the Congregation for the Clergy and also several priests. The Pope reminded the clergy, that as priests, they need to be humble to successfully transmit the message of the Gospel. 

PARTIAL HOMILY

(Source: Vatican Radio) 

“Paul has spoken many times. It's kind of like a refrain of his sins right? He says, 'But I tell you this: I've been a persecutor of the Church, I've been a persecutor.' He always comes back to recognize his sins.  He feels sinful. But, even then he doesn't  say, 'I was a sinner, but now I am Holy.'  No! He says, 'Even now, there's a thorn of Satan in my flesh.' He shows us his own weakness, his own sins. He is a sinner who accepts Jesus Christ, who dialogues with Jesus Christ.”

This is the model of humility for us priests – for us priests, too. If we only pride ourselves on our [service record] and nothing more, we end up going the wrong way.  We cannot proclaim Jesus Christ the Savior, if we do not feel Him present and at work deep down. We have to be humble, but with real humility, from head to toe: 'I am a sinner for this, for this, for this', as Paul did: 'I persecuted the Church, " - as he did, [recognizing ourselves] concrete sinners: not sinners with that [kind of ] humility, which seems more a put-on face, no? Oh no, strong humility. 

The humility of the priest, the humility of a Christian is concrete, for which, therefore, if a Christian fails, to make this confession to himself and to the Church, then something is wrong," and the first thing to fail will be our ability "understand the beauty of salvation that Jesus brings us.

Brothers, we have a treasure: that of Jesus Christ the Savior. The Cross of Jesus Christ, this treasure of which we pride ourselves - but we have it in a clay vessel. Let us vaunt also our ‘handbook’ of our sins. Thus is the dialogue Christian and Catholic: concrete, because the salvation of Jesus Christ is concrete. Jesus Christ has not saved us with an idea, an intellectual program, no. He saved with His flesh, with the concreteness of flesh. He is lowered, made man, made flesh until the end. This is a gift that we can only understand, only receive, in earthen vessels. 

The Samaritan woman, as well, who met Jesus and after speaking to him told her countrymen first of her sin and then about having met the Lord, behaved in a similar way to Paul. I believe that this woman is in heaven, for sure," because, as the Italian author Alessandro Manzoni once said, 'I have never found that the Lord began a miracle without finishing it well' and this miracle that He began definitely ended well in heaven.”