Here and Now with Francis 6/10/16 (Christ, Christianity, Catholicism, universal, dialogue, encounter, realism)

By Anonymous

This (is the) healthy realism of the Catholic Church: the Church never teaches us "or this or that." That is not Catholic. The Church says to us: "this and that." Strive for perfectionism: reconcile with your brother.  Do not insult him. Love him. And if there is a problem, at the very least settle your differences so that war doesn’t break out. This (is) the healthy realism of Catholicism. It is not Catholic (to say) "or this or nothing"

From the homily
Jesus, said the Pope, urged his confused people to look beyond and go forward.  But at the same time, Christ warned about the harm caused to the people of God by Christians who do not follow their own teachings. “How many times do we in the Church hear these things: how many times!  ‘But that priest, that man or that woman from the Catholic Action, that bishop, or that Pope tell us we must do this this way!’ and then they do the opposite. This is the scandal that wounds the people and prevents the people of God from growing and going forward. It doesn’t free them. In addition, these people had seen the rigidity of those scribes and Pharisees and when a prophet came to give them a bit of joy, they (the scribes and Pharisees) persecuted them and even murdered them; there was no place for prophets there.  And Jesus said to them, to the Pharisees: ‘you have killed the prophets, you have persecuted the prophets: those who were bringing fresh air.’”... “And allow me to use this word that seems a bit strange: it’s the tiny sanctity of negotiations. ‘So, I can’t do everything but I want to do everything, therefore I reach an agreement with you, at least we don’t trade insults, we don’t wage a war and we can all live in peace.’ Jesus is a great person! He frees us from all our miseries and also from that idealism which is not Catholic. Let us implore our Lord to teach us, first to escape from all rigidity but also to go out beyond ourselves, so we can adore and praise God who teaches us to be reconciled amongst ourselves and who also teaches us to reach an agreement up to the point that we are able to do so.” [link]

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