The Church scandalizes because she professes that Jesus is the Son of God made flesh

The Church scandalizes because she
professes that Jesus is the Son of God made flesh
At morning Mass Pope Francis urges us not to fall into the
trap of the "spirit of the world", reducing Christianity to an "mannered",
"reasonable", "social" version. Professing the Son of God made flesh leads to
persecution and martyrdom. The Mass was attended by the archbishop of Havana and
some gentlemen of His Holiness.


Vatican City (AsiaNews): "The Church
is not a religious, cultural or social organization." It is "Jesus' family" the
Church professes that Jesus is the Son of God made flesh: that is the scandal,
and for that they persecuted Jesus." This is how Pope Francis summed up the
sense of the Gospel of today's Mass, which he celebrated in the chapel of the
St. Martha residence this morning. The Eucharist was also attended by Card.
Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, Archbishop of Havana and a group of gentlemen of
His Holiness.

The pontiff, according to the Vatican Radio summary,
repeatedly urged not to adapt to the "spirit of the world" that shows you
appreciate the Church for its social work, or want to "be more reasonable," and
instead accept "the scandal of the Cross", which can also lead to
persecution.
"How many times do you hear people say: 'But you
Christians, be a bit more normal, like other people: be reasonable!' This is a
speech by snake charmers, to be sure: 'But, be normal, OK? A little more normal,
do not be so strict." But behind this is: 'Please, do not come with [your]
tales, [about] God who became man!' The Incarnation of the Word: that is the
scandal behind it! We can do all the social work we want, and they will say,
'How nice, the Church, what good social work the Church does'. But if we say
that we do this because those people [we help] are the flesh of Christ, there is
scandal. And that is the truth, that is the revelation of Jesus: that presence
of Jesus incarnate."

According to the Pope: "always there will be the
[temptation] to do good things without the scandal of the Incarnate Word,
without the scandal of the Cross." Instead, we must "be true to this scandal, to
this reality that scandalises." It is, "better this way: the coherence of the
faith." Pope Francis then said, "It would do us all good to think about this:
the Church is not a cultural organisation that [includes] religion and social
work.":

"The Church is the family of Jesus" he continued. "The Church
confesses that Jesus is the Son of God come in the flesh: that is the scandal,
that is the reason why they persecuted Jesus. In the end, [the answer that]
Jesus had not wanted to [give] to these, to the question, 'With what authority
are you doing this?' He gives to the high priest. 'But, at the end of: Thou art
the Son of God? - Yes!' [He was] sentenced to death for that. This is the core
of the persecution. If we become "reasonable" Christians, "social" Christians,
Christians who only di philanthropy, what will be the consequence? That we will
never have martyrs: that will be the consequence."

"We ask the Lord - he
concluded - not to be ashamed to live with this scandal of the Cross. [We ask
Him for] wisdom: the wisdom to ask not to be trapped by the spirit of the world,
that will always make to us polite suggestions, civil proposals, good proposals
- but behind those there is precisely the negation of the fact that the Word
came in the flesh, of the Incarnation of the Word. That, in the end, is what
scandalises those who persecute Jesus, that is what destroys the work of the
devil. So be it."