September 10

October 22, 2013 Martin Mallon (Ireland) Martin's previous articles

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POPE FRANCIS: HOW TO KNOW JESUS

In his homily at Mass on Thursday, September 26, Pope Francis made three negative observations about getting to know Jesus; he stated that we cannot come to know Him in “first class” luxury, we cannot come to know Him “in tranquility, not even in the library” and that we cannot come to know Jesus “without having problems.”

Francis then continues by explaining how we can come to know Jesus; by following three paths to Him: the paths of “the mind, heart, and action.” The first path is that of studying and knowing Jesus with the mind. Francis said we could come to know Jesus by studying the Catechism and through “the beauty of the history of salvation” while at the same time pointing out that “its not enough to understand Jesus through the mind.”

The second path is that of a dialogue of the heart with Jesus:

“It is necessary to know Him in dialogue with Him, talking with Him, in prayer, kneeling. If you do not pray, if you do not talk with Jesus, you do not know Him. You know things about Jesus, but it does not go with that knowledge that your heart gives in prayer.”

Francis informs us that knowing Jesus with our minds and with our hearts in dialogue with Him, in real prayer, while helping us “immensely…is not sufficient”.

The Pope then mentions the third path, the path many of us find most difficult to travel, the path of “action”: “it is following [Him]; to go with Him, to walk with Him.”

Francis believes that in “communicating with Christ in these three “languages” one can truly know Him”. The Pope reiterates that if you really want to know Jesus then you must:

“Read what the Church tells you about Him, talk to Him in prayer, and walk on the path with Him. Thus, you may know who this man is”.

Many of us emphasise one of these “paths” or “languages” to the detriment of the others and this is problematic; we must try to get a proper balance if we really want to know Jesus.