Francis at Santa Marta explains the “topography” of the Christian life and its three points of reference: memory of the first encounter with God, prayer and “going” on mission to proclaim Jesus
The place of those who believe in Christ is in the world, where to proclaim Jesus. Feet on earth and gaze on Heaven to be united with Him. Pope Francis’ core message during this morning’s Mass, May 26, 2017 at Casa Santa Marta, where he went on explaining the topography of the Christian life and its three points of reference: memory of the encounter with God, prayer, and “going” to announce the Lord.
In his homily, As Vatican Radio reports, the Pontiff spoke of how the scriptures - indicate three key words for the Christian path.
The First word is memory. The Risen Jesus indicates to his disciples to go before Him to Galilee, where the first encounter with the Lord took place. And “each one of us “have our own Galilee” the Bishop of Rome noted, refereeing to where the Son of God appeared for the first time, where we have known him “and we have had this joy, this enthusiasm to follow him.”
To be a good Christian, therefore, it is always necessary to “have the memory of the first encounter with Jesus or of the following ones” It is “the grace of memory,” he assures, “which in the moment of trial gives me certainty”
Then there is prayer. When Jesus ascends to Heaven, - Francis explains – he does not disengage from humankind: “Physically, yes, but he is always connected with us to intercede for us. He shows the Father his wounds, the price he has paid for us, for our salvation.” Then, we must “ask for the grace to contemplate Heaven, the grace of prayer, our relationship with Jesus in prayer, that in this moment he listens to us, he is with us.”
Finally “third: the world. Jesus, before leaving, tells his disciples, “Go into the world and make disciples.” Go - Francis emphasizes - the world is the place for the Christian to announce the Word of Jesus, to say that we are saved, that He has come to give us grace, to take us all with Him before the Father.”
Here, all of this is “the topography of the Christian spirit,” the three point of reference of a Christian: memory, prayer, mission; and the three key words for the path: Galilee, Heaven and World.
A Christian “must move in these three dimensions, and request the grace of memory: saying to the Lord, ‘Don’t let me forget the moment when You chose me, don’t let me forget the moment we met.’ Then, praying, looking to heaven because He is there, interceding. He intercedes for us.” And then “going on mission: that is, not saying that everyone has to go to the foreign missions; going on mission is living and bearing witness to the Gospel, it is making Jesus known to all people. And doing so through witness and through the Word: because if I tell people about Jesus, and about the Christian life, and then live like a pagan, that won’t do. The mission will not go forward.”
But if we live in memory, in prayer and on mission, Christian life is then beautiful and joyful: “this is the final word Jesus speaks to us today in the Gospel: ‘On that day, the day in which you live the Christian life in this way, you will know all things and no one will be able to take your joy away from you.” No one, “ because I have the memory of my encounter with Jesus; I have the certainty that Jesus is in heaven in this moment and He is interceding for me, He is with me; and I prayer and I have the courage to speak, to go out of myself, and to speak to others and bear witness with my life that the Lord is risen, He is alive..”
So to summarize it: “Memory, prayer, mission. May the Lord - the Pope invokes in the end - give us the grace to understand the topography of the Christian life and go forward with joy, with the joy that no one can take away from us. “
