FRANCIS EFFECT

Deuteronomy 4:1,5:9; Ps 147 Praise the Lord, Jerusalem; Matthew 5:17-19

First things first.  Here are a few words from Pope Francis this past week in regards to the gospel from Sunday, Jesus clearing house with a whip.

"Does the Lord feel at home in my life?  Do we allow Him to 'cleanse' our hearts and to drive out idols, those attitudes of cupidity, jealousy, worldliness, envy, hatred, those habits of gossiping and tearing down others?"

"Let us build for God a temple of our lives.  If we are witnesses of this living Christ, so many people will encounter Jesus in us, in our witness."



Now for the gospel and little tie in.  "Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.  But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

So says Jesus.

Pope Paul VI stated in one of his Apostolic Exhortations that what the world needs in witnesses not teachers because people listen to witnesses.  I would like to add that if one is going to be a witness then one must first be a pupil, a student letting oneself be taught.

A witness is one who has been touched by the truth, transformed by the truth in such a manner that life itself becomes a vessel for that truth.  Teaching the commandments is more about living them and then the instruction flows from life lived.

This is why Jesus speaks of breaking verse obeying.  True strength rises in obedience.  True witness rises as well in the same light.

This is why Pope Francis spells it out so clearly, "If we are witnesses of this living Christ then many will encounter Jesus in us..."