Pope Francis saddened by 'perfect' Catholics who despise others

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God did not choose perfect people to form his church, but rather sinners who have experienced his love and forgiveness, Pope Francis said.

The Gospel of Luke's account of Jesus forgiving the sinful woman shows how his actions went against the general mentality of his time, a way of thinking that saw a "clear separation" between the pure and impure, the pope said Aug. 9 during his weekly general audience.

"There were some scribes, those who believed they were perfect," the pope said. "And I think about so many Catholics who think they are perfect and scorn others. This is sad."

Continuing his series of audience talks about Christian hope, the pope reflected on Jesus' "scandalous gesture" of forgiving the sinful woman.

The woman, he said, was one of many poor women who were visited secretly even by those who denounced them as sinful.

Although Jesus' love toward the sick and the marginalized "baffles his contemporaries," it reveals God's heart as the place where suffering men and women can find love, compassion and healing, Pope Francis said.

"How many people continue today in a wayward life because they find no one willing to look at them in a different way, with the eyes -- or better yet -- with the heart of God, meaning with hope," he said. But "Jesus sees the possibility of a resurrection even in those who have made so many wrong choices."

Oftentimes, the pope continued, Christians become accustomed to having their sins forgiven and receiving God's unconditional love while forgetting the heavy price Jesus paid by dying on the cross.

By forgiving sinners, Jesus doesn't seek to free them from a guilty conscience, but rather offers "people who have made mistakes the hope of a new life, a life marked by love," the pope said.

The church is a people formed "of sinners who have experienced the mercy and forgiveness of God," Pope Francis said. Christians are "all poor sinners" who need God's mercy, "which strengthens us and gives us hope."

source: Catholic News Service (CNS)

By Junno Arocho Esteves

Give - and you will have treasure in heaven

Where can you find true peace, security, and happiness? 

A young man who had the best the world could offer - wealth, position, and security - came to Jesus because he lacked one thing. He wanted the kind of lasting peace and happiness which money and possessions could not buy him. The answer he got, however, was not what he was looking for. He protested that he kept all the commandments - but Jesus spoke to the trouble in his heart. 

My spirit rejoices in God my Savior

How strong is your hope in the promises of God? Mary is a model of faith and hope for us. And she is among "the first-fruits" of "all those who belong to Jesus" and who share in his triumph (1 Corinthians 15:20-24). There is a venerable tradition dating back to the early church which marks Mary's "falling asleep" (called the Feast of Dormition in many Eastern churches) and her heavenly birthday when she was received into heaven. 

Nothing will be impossible to you

What kind of faith does the Lord expect of us, especially when we meet set-backs and trials? Inevitably there are times when each of us disappoint others or disappoint ourselves when we suffer some kind of set-back or failure. In this Gospel incident the disciples of Jesus fail to heal an epileptic boy. 

Saint Jude Thaddeus, the Apostle, Worker of Miracles and Helper of the most difficult, desperate and hopeless

St. Jude was one of the twelve Apostles known as Thaddeus, and is a brother to St. James the Less, also one of the Apostles. 

"Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James" 

(Jude 1)

St Luke's Gospel includes Jude in the list of the 12 Apostles (6:16) and St. John mentions him (14:22). St. Mathew (10:3) and St. Mark (3:18) use the name Thaddeus without Jude. �Jude�, means giver of joy, while �Thaddeus�, another name he was called, means generous and kind. St. Jude is traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus in his hand. Base on a recording historian Eusebius in which King Abgar of Edessa asked Jesus to cure him of leprosy and sent an artist to bring him a drawing of Jesus. Impressed with Abgar's great faith, Jesus pressed his face into a cloth and gave it to St. Jude to take to Abgar. Upon seeing Jesus' image, The King was cured and he converted to Christianity along with most of the people under his rule. St. Jude also is shown very often with a flame around his head, which represents his presence at Pentecost, when he received the Holy Spirit with the other Apostles. In the Middle Ages, St. Bernard of Clairvaux (France) was a renowned devotee of St. Jude, as was St. Bridget of Sweden who, in a vision, was encouraged by Jesus to turn to St. Jude with faith and confidence. He told her that, in accordance with Jude's surname, Thaddeus (which means generous, courageous, and kind), "he will show himself to be the most willing to give you help."

St. Jude is the patron for difficult, desperate or hopeless cases. The Church teaches that "true devotion to the saints does not consists so much in the multiplication of exterior acts as in the intensity of an active love, through which, for our greater good and that of the Church, we look to the saints for the example of their lives, a share in their fellowship and the help of their intercession. The Church also teaches that the Triune God is the source of all life and grace. We pray to St. Jude as a brother, pleading with him to join in our prayer before the Most High. St. Jude has proven to be a friend and a beacon of hope to those who seek the Saint's intercession.