miniZibaldone

[T] he light of faith, which is in us through Christ and the action of the Holy Spirit, we must not keep as if it were our property.  From the Angelus The mission of Christians in society is to give “flavour” to life with the faith and love that Christ has given us, and at the same time to keep away the polluting germs of egoism, of envy, of malicious gossip, and so on. These germs ruin the fabric of our communities, which instead should shine as places of hospitality, of solidarity and of reconciliation. To fulfill this mission, it is necessary first of all that we ourselves are liberated from the corrupting degeneration of worldly influences, which are contrary to Christ and the Gospel; and this purification never ends, it goes on every day!   [full text]

Christians must be salt and light, but never self-serving: salt must add flavor and light must illuminate the other. From the homily The Pope continued his homily with the question: “what must a Christian do in order for the salt not to  run out, so that the oil to light the lamp does not come to an end?”  The “battery” a Christian uses to generate light, the Pope explained, is simply prayer.  “There are many things one can do, many works of charity, many great things for the Church – a Catholic University, a college, a hospital – you may even be rewarded as a benefactor of the Church with a monument, but if you do not pray, it will be dark and dimly lit” he said.  Prayer, the Pope said, is what lights up Christian life, and he highlighted the fact that prayer is a “serious” matter: “a prayer of adoration to God the Father, a prayer of praise to the Holy Trinity, a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer to request to God… prayer must come from the heart”.   As...