{"id":30441,"date":"2017-08-07T17:02:10","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T09:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/home\/?p=30441"},"modified":"2017-08-11T00:41:50","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T16:41:50","slug":"to-be-a-christian-means-to-have-hope-even-in-darkness-pope-francis-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/2017\/08\/07\/to-be-a-christian-means-to-have-hope-even-in-darkness-pope-francis-says\/","title":{"rendered":"To be a Christian means to have hope even in darkness, Pope Francis says"},"content":{"rendered":"[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_video admin_label=”Video” src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/JGDrrVCn27E” image_src=”\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/JGDrrVCn27E\/hqdefault.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Image Caption” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font=”Arial||||” text_font_size=”12″ text_line_height=”1.3em” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” custom_padding=”||30px|”]\n

The Pope resumed his general audiences Wednesday, following a break for the month of July.\u00a0Vatican News<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]\n

VATICAN\u2014 On Wednesday Pope Francis said that to be a Christian means to have hope in the light of Christ, which we are filled with at our Baptism, even in the midst of difficulties or darkness.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does it mean to be Christian? It means to look to the light, to continue to practice the profession of faith in the light, even when the world is wrapped in night and darkness,\u201d Pope Francis said Aug. 2.<\/p>\n

The Pope resumed his general audiences Wednesday, following a break for the month of July. Addressing pilgrims gathered in the Pope Paul VI hall of the Vatican, he spoke about the hope found in Christianity, especially in our Baptism, which orients us toward the light of Christ.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristians are not exempt from darkness, external and even internal. They do not live out of the world, however, because of the grace of Christ received in Baptism, they are men and women \u2018oriented,\u2019\u201d the Pope said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do not believe in the darkness, but in the light of day; they do not succumb to the night, but hope in the dawn; they are not defeated by death, but they want to resurrect; they are not bent over by evil, because they always confide in the infinite possibilities of good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this is our Christian hope. The light of Jesus, the salvation that brings us Jesus with his light that saves us from the darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis began his address by explaining how there was a time when churches faced toward the east, so that when a person entered the doors in the west, he or she walked eastward toward the altar. Though this has fallen out of custom, it\u2019s still an important symbol, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe men of modern times, much less accustomed to grasping the great signs of the cosmos, we almost never notice such a thing,\u201d he said, noting that the west is the direction of the sunset, \u201cwhere the light dies.\u201d In the east, on the other hand, is where we see the first light of the dawn, casting away the darkness.<\/p>\n

The Pope explained that in the ancient Church, during the rite of Baptism, the catechumens would make the first part of their profession of faith facing the west. When questioned, \u201cdo you renounce Satan, his favors, and all his works?\u201d facing the west, they would respond \u201cI renounce!\u201d<\/p>\n

They would then turn to face the east, the direction of the Orient, for the question: \u201cdo you believe in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?\u201d this time responding, \u201cI believe!\u201d<\/p>\n

In our own Baptisms today there is the beautiful sign of the lit baptismal candle, showing the importance of light, he continued. Using a word he called \u201ca bit strong,\u201d the Pope said: \u201cthe life of the Church is contamination of light.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to ask you: how many of you remember the date of your Baptism?\u201d he asked. \u201cThink, and if you do not remember it, today you have homework: go to your mom, your dad, your aunt, your uncle, your grandmother, grandpa and ask them, \u2018What is my Baptism date?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He then instructed them not to forget it, adding that today\u2019s commitment is to learn and remember your date of baptism, \u201cwhich is the date of rebirth, is the date of light, it is the date in which,\u201d he emphasized, \u201cwe have been contaminated by the light of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a great grace when a Christian really becomes a bearer of Christ in the world, he said, especially for those who are in mourning, despair or darkness. And this can be understood in many small details, such as a light in the eyes, staying at peace, even during complicated times, and the desire \u201cto restart well, even when many disappointments have been experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the ones who believe that God is the Father: this is the light!\u201d he said. \u201cWe believe that the Holy Spirit works without rest for the sake of humanity and the world, and even the greatest pains of history will be overcome: this is the hope that resounds every morning!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that every affection, every friendship, every good wish, every love, even the most minute and neglected ones, will one day find their fulfillment in God: this is the force that drives us to embrace our everyday life with enthusiasm!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd,\u201d he concluded, \u201cthis is our hope: living in hope and living in light, in the light of God the Father, in the light of Jesus the Savior, in the light of the Holy Spirit that drives us to move on in life.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav admin_label=”Post Navigation” in_same_term=”off” hide_prev=”off” hide_next=”off” prev_text=”PREVIOUS ARTICLE” next_text=”NEXT ARTICLE” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today you have homework: go to your mom, your dad, your aunt, your uncle, your grandmother, grandpa and ask them, \u2018What is my Baptism date?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vatican-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ootw-7UZ","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aranzazushrine.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/vatican_pope_christian.png?fit=837%2C466&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30441"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30445,"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30441\/revisions\/30445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aranzazushrine.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}