Here and Now with Francis 1/8/16 (Incarnation, Christ, faith, flesh, mercy, antichrist, worldliness)

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From the homily
[W]e need to discern if we follow the spirit of God.  And this is the daily rule of life that John teaches us." Pope Francis went on to warn against worldliness. [...]
"The criterion is the Incarnation. I can feel so many things inside, even good things, good ideas. But if these good ideas, these feelings, do not lead to God who became flesh, do not lead me to my neighbour, my brother, then they are not from God. For this reason, John begins this passage of his letter by saying: 'This is God's commandment that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another.'" [...]
We can, the Pope continued, have "many pastoral plans", imagine new "methods to get closer to the people", but "if we do not follow the path of God who became flesh, the path of the Son of God who became man to walk with us, we are not on the path of the good spirit: it is the Antichrist, it is worldliness, it is the spirit of the world." "How many people seem spiritual: 'How spiritual that person is!' but they do not talk about doing works of mercy. Why? Because the works of mercy are the visible sign of our confession that the Son of God became flesh: visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, taking care of those who are abandoned... works of mercy: why? The reason is because each of our brothers, whom we must love, is the flesh of Christ.  God became flesh to identify with us. And those who suffer are one and the same as the suffering Christ." [link]

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