Pope Francis sent out a bold invitation to the faithful during a sermon delivered at Mass in St. Martha’s House recently when he said we cannot sell our faith to the “highest bidder” but must stand strong like so many Christian martyrs are doing at the present time.
Vatican Insider is reporting that the Pope made his comments during morning Mass on April 6 while commenting on the Gospel in which Peter and John are courageously witnessing to the faith before Jewish leaders in spite of the threats made against them.
“How is our faith going? Is it strong? Or is it sometimes a little bit superficial?” he asked the congregation, which included a family from Argentina and several nuns from the Daughters of St. Camilus and the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity.
He then pointed out the boldness of St. Peter who did not hide his faith in spite of being in peril for his life, because he knew “faith cannot be negotiated.”
“Throughout history, the people of God have always been tempted to chop a piece off faith,” the Pope said. At times, everyone is tempted to “not to be too rigid . . . . But when we start to cut down on faith, to negotiate faith, selling it to the highest bidder we take the path of apostasy, we begin to lack faith, lack faith in the Lord.”
He also said that we don’t need to look into the catcombs or the Colosseum to find martyrs.
” . . . (M)artyrs are alive now, in many countries. Christians are persecuted for their faith. In some countries they cannot wear a cross: if they do so they are punished. Today, in the 21st century, our Church is a Church of martyrs.”
His words are backed by solid fact. Recent reports from Open Doors, a U.S. based nondenominational group dedicated to supporting suppressed Christians, has found that of the world’s 2.2 billion followers of Christ, an estimated 100 million are experiencing persecution in 111 countries at any given time. This persecution ranges from death and imprisonment in Middle East countries to marginalization and ridicule in the West.
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