Pope Francis at Angelus: missionary disciples put
Christ first
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis used his remarks ahead of the
traditional Sunday Angelus prayer to reflect on the essential
characteristics of Christian missionary discipleship, which he identified as
being bound to Our Lord Jesus Christ and being bearers of Him – ambassadors of
Christ, as St. Paul says – who put on Christ and bring Him to others, forsaking
themselves and all others and everything else in the world for His sake.
“Not,” explained Pope Francis, “because He wants us to be
heartless and ungrateful – not hardly, not at all.”
“On the contrary,” he continued, “because the condition of
the disciple requires that one’s relationship with the Master take precedence
over all others.”
Departing from his prepared text, the Holy Father said, “Any
and every disciple, whether he be a lay man, a lay woman, a priest, a bishop:
the relationship [with Christ, the Divine Teacher] takes precedence.”
Pope Francis concluded, saying, “The Virgin Mary felt in her
own person what it means to love Jesus, detaching oneself from oneself, giving
new meaning to family ties, beginning with faith in Him: may she help us, with
her maternal intercession, to be free and cheerful missionaries of the Gospel.”
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