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Pope Francis says the Lord does not expect us to be “perfect Christians,” and he (the pope) is afraid when he sees righteous and self-assured Christians.
Francis told a crowd at the Vatican on Sunday that the Lord would prefer us “to seek him, to call on him or even, like Thomas, to protest, bringing him our needs and our unbelief.”
Thomas “represents all of us,” Francis says.
“We too struggle at times like that disciple: How can we believe that Jesus is risen, that he accompanies us and is the Lord of our life without having seen him, without having touched him?
“How can one believe in this? Why does the Lord not give us some clearer sign of his presence and love? Some sign that I can see better.
“Here, we too are like Thomas, with the same doubts, the same reasoning.
“But we do not need to be ashamed of this. By telling us the story of Thomas, in fact, the Gospel tells us that the Lord is not looking for perfect Christians. The Lord is not looking for perfect Christians.”
Attitudes of righteousness and self-assurance aren’t the way to go either, Francis warns.
“I tell you: I am afraid when I see a Christian, some associations of Christians who believe themselves to be perfect.
“The Lord is not looking for perfect Christians; the Lord is not looking for Christians who never doubt and always flaunt a steadfast faith. When a Christian is like that, something isn’t right,” he says.
“No, the adventure of faith, as for Thomas, consists of lights and shadows. Otherwise, what kind of faith would that be? It knows times of comfort, zeal and enthusiasm, but also of weariness, confusion, doubt and darkness.
Crises are not sins, they are part of the journey, we should not fear them, Francis explains.
He says in many cases they make us humble because they strip us of the idea that we are better than others.
“Crises help us to recognise that we are needy: they rekindle the need for God and thus enable us to return to the Lord, to touch his wounds, to experience his love anew as if it were the first time.”
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