By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Faith is a journey guided by the Holy
Spirit, who helps the church grow in understanding the sinful nature of once-accepted practices like slavery and the death penalty, Pope Francis said.
While people once even used religious reasons to justify practices
such as slavery, the death penalty and “wars of religion,” over time
the Holy Spirit has deepened the church’s understanding of the Gospel, the pope
said May 11 in his homily during morning Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae.
Slavery “is a mortal sin; today we say this. Back then,
some would say that this could be done because these people did not have a soul!”
he said. The number of people enslaved today is “even more, but at least
we know that it is a mortal sin. The same goes for the death penalty; for a
time, it was normal. Today, we say that the death penalty is
inadmissible.”
Reflecting on the day’s first reading in which St. Paul
recounts God’s works throughout history, Pope Francis said the Lord
“guides his people in good times and in bad times, through freedom and
slavery.”
Like the people of Israel, he said, God also guides the
church along the path toward the fullness of time “with many saints and
many sinners; between grace and sin.”
It is those saints, some well-known and others who are
“hidden,” who “clarify faith and clarify morals,” the pope said.
However, Christians who choose to stop along the path
“become a prisoner in a stable, like a donkey,” and end up not
deepening their faith and understanding God’s love in their own lives, he said.
Individually, he said, each person also is moving toward the
fullness of their own time, the point when they die and come face to face with
the Lord.
When Catholics go to confession, he said, they should
consider not only the shame they feel for their sins, but they should recognize
that confession as another step they need to make in preparation for meeting
the Lord.
“Asking God’s forgiveness is not automatic,” he
said.
By understanding their sins and asking God for forgiveness,
Christians will discover that they are part of “a people on the way and
that one day — perhaps today, tomorrow or in 30 years — I will find myself
face to face with that Lord who never leaves us alone, who accompanies us on
the way.”
“This is the great work of God’s mercy,” he said.
– – –
Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.
– – –
Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
