Pope Francis's Interview - Be Christlike in Everything (hint: love)

10/03/2013 Abortion , Contraception , Gay Marriage , God is Love , Great Commandment , Love , Pope Francis , Video 4 Comments

When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village. - Luke 9:51-56

Obviously, there is a lot going on in our world today (the government shutdown comes to mind), but something that has been making waves in Catholic circles is the recent interview given by Pope Francis.  Of course, since I started this post Pope Francis has given a 2nd interview, but I won't go into that one...  Basically, the press (for the most part) has leaped upon this interview saying that the church's policies on issues that is has formerly been staunchly against (abortion, "gay" marriage, contraception) have changed.  Sorry to break the news to the modern world, but they haven't, and they won't.  Actually, listen to what Pope Francis says:

“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time."

What is he saying?:  We can't focus only on hot-button ethical and moral issues.  Yes, they are important, but if that is all you talk about nobody will listen.  His reason isn't to say that these issues aren't important but that, "when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context."  What's the context?:  Jesus' redemptive, loving, death in order to bring us God's love (and life).  "Love".  It's a word that people have watered down in our culture.  Dictionary.com says that love is:

love

  [luhv]  Show IPA noun, verb, loved, lov·ing.

noun

1.

a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

2.

a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

3.

sexual passion or desire.

4.

a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.

5.

(used in direct address as a term of endearment, affection, or the like): Would you like to see a movie, love?

Love, in Christianity, is so much more than just affection!  Love is a supernatural virtue that comes from God.  Love, is the "fire" that Jesus wants to inflame us with (that is why this post started with that Gospel).  It is the fire that we should be praying would fall from heaven upon us.  As Jesus says "I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!" - Luke 12:49  Listen to Pope Francis as he continues:

"The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently. Proclamation in a missionary style focuses on the essentials, on the necessary things: this is also what fascinates and attracts more, what makes the heart burn, as it did for the disciples at Emmaus. We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel. The proposal of the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant. It is from this proposition that the moral consequences then flow."

The last line of this statement is the key! "It is from this proposition that the moral consequences then flow."  The moral teachings of the church aren't subjective, or changing, precisely because they come from  Jesus Christ's teachings and life.  The pope, or the bishops, or whoever, don't just make up moral principles for us to follow.  The Church was guaranteed by Christ to teach the Truth!  Jesus says "I am with you always, to the close of the age." - Matthew 28:20  He says to Peter "you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." - Matthew 16:18-19  Finally, to Pilate's question "what is truth" we find Jesus' answer "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." - John 14:6

When Jesus says that "I" will be with you always, He is telling His apostles that Truth itself will be with them always.  When Jesus gives His authority to Peter, He is giving him the authority to speak the truth on Christ's behalf.  The Church is the way that Jesus chose to send His message into the world.  

Alright, this post is getting long, but the points must be pulled together.  What Pope Francis is telling the world (and everybody in the Church) is that the foundations of our moral teaching must be Christ, who is love.  But proclaiming the message of the Gospel (love) isn't the kind of love that the world subscribes to.  Our foundation cannot be the hollow, warm-and-fuzzy "luv" that the world lives by, but must be the love that comes from Christ.  We shouldn't always bang away at certain moral issues precisely because Christ did not.  

We have to remember that Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, walked on our earth - yeah, it was 2000 years ago, but people struggled with the same sins that we do today.  Certainly the world has changed, but human concupiscence has not.  Thus, though Jesus did preach against many, many sins of his day (Read what comes after the Beatitudes), at the same time He showed mercy to sinners of every kind and all the time.  This is what Pope Francis is calling for, not a relaxing of the Church's stance on important moral issues (they can't change!), but a reassessment of what and how we talk with others - is it out of love, or do we just keep forcing moral statutes down their throat?  Do we forget the Great Commandment (love God and love neighbor) in correcting our neighbor on less foundational moral principles?  Pope Francis's stance of love  doesn't undermine the moral statutes of the Church, it is their foundation.  Love is the reason behind the Church's teaching on contraception, abortion, "gay" marriage, and euthanasia.  This means on the one hand that they can't change (God is Love), but it also means that love must permeate everything we do, including how we spread the moral teaching of the Church.

Thanks for reading that whole post guys!  Actually, I was at first kind of worried about Pope Francis's comments, but when you actually read what he said, and flesh out the reasoning behind it, you find that He is doing exactly what Christ did.  Want more on this topic?  Check out Fr. Barron's comments: