Pope Francis: 'Shepherds are not the centre of the
Church'
(Vastican Radio) The true shepherd knows how to step down
from his church, because he knows that he is not at the center of history, but
is a free man who has served without compromises and without taking control of
his flock. That was Pope Francis’ message during his homily at
Mass celebrated on Tuesday in the Vatican’s Santa Marta residence.
“A shepherd must be ready to step down completely from his
church, rather than leave in a partial manner” said the Pope.
His words were drawn from the first reading at Mass, where
St Paul addressed the church leaders in Ephesus. The Pope said that this
reading could easily be called “A bishop’s leave taking” because Paul has left
the Church of Ephesus in order to go to Jerusalem, where the Holy Spirit called
him to go.
“All shepherds have to step down. There comes a moment where
the Lord says ‘go to another place, come here, go there, come to me.’ And it’s
one of the steps that a shepherd must take; be prepared to step down in the
correct way, not still hanging on to his position. The shepherd who doesn’t
learn how to do this because he still has some links with his sheep that are
not good, links that are not purified by the Cross of Jesus” said Pope Francis.
According to the Pope, St Paul had held a council with all
the priests of Ephesus and during this council he had demonstrated three
“apostolic attitudes.”
The first of these is never turning back. The Pope said that
this is the worst of all sins, to turn back. This is the thing which will bring
much peace to the shepherd, when he remembers that he is not a shepherd who has
led the church through compromising. Pope Francis admitted that this attitude
requires much courage.
The second attitude is obedience to the Spirit, without
knowing what will happen. A shepherd must know that he is on a journey.
The Pope said that Paul was a shepherd who serves his sheep.
“Whilst guiding the Church he had an uncompromising
attitude, at that moment it was the Spirit who asked him to go on his journey,
without knowing what would happen to him. And he went because he had nothing of
his own, he had not wrongly taken control of his sheep. He had served them.
Paul said ‘Now God wants me to leave. I leave without knowing what will happen
to me. I know only this - the Spirit had told him this - that the Holy Spirit
had testified to me that trials and tribulations are awaiting me from city to
city.’ This was what he (St Paul) knew. That I am not retiring. I am going away
to serve other churches. The heart is always open to the voice of God, I am
leaving this place, I will see what the Lord is asking of me. This is a
shepherd without compromises who is now a shepherd on a journey.”
The third attitude is “I do not consider my own life to be
precious in any way. I am not the center of history. Whether it’s large history
or small history, I am not the center, I am a servant” said the Pope.
“With this most beautiful example, let us pray for our
shepherds, for our parish priests, our bishops, the Pope, that their lives will
be lives lived without compromise, lives on a journey and lives where they do
not believe that they are the center of history and have learned how to step
down. Let us pray for our shepherds.”
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