Dozens of cardinals living in Rome or visiting the Vatican joined in the April 23 celebration of Mass on the feast of St George — the patron of the Pope, whose first name is Jorge.

"Christian identity is not an identity card," Pope Francis said. "Christian identity is belonging to the Church…. Because it is not possible to find Jesus outside the Church.

"The great Paul VI said: ‘Wanting to live with Jesus without the Church, following Jesus outside of the Church, loving Jesus without the Church is an absurd dichotomy.'

"And the Mother Church that gives us Jesus gives us our identity that is not only a seal, it is a belonging. Identity means belonging. This belonging to the Church is beautiful," he said.

"Think of this Mother Church that grows, grows with new children to whom she gives the identity of the faith, because you cannot believe in Jesus without the Church," the Pope continued.

"Jesus himself says in the Gospel: ‘But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.'

"If we are not ‘sheep of Jesus', faith does not come to us. It is a rosewater faith, a faith without substance.

The Pontiff also spoke about persecution, noting that "the missionary expansion of the Church began precisely at a time of persecution".

The life of the Church is a path that always alternates between "persecution and consolation, between the Cross and the Resurrection", he said.

"If we want to take the path of the mundane, negotiating with the world," the Pope said, "we will never have the consolation of the Lord. If we seek only consolation, it will be superficial."

Sources:

Catholic News Agency

Vatican Radio

Image: The Catholic Sun

"We're no longer evangelising the culture, we've been evangelised by it, and it's not good for the secular culture, and it's destroying us as a religious community," said veteran journalist Russell Shaw.

"You have to get your identity, values, and commitments right, or you're going to be in serious trouble," he said.

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Almost 15 years ago, the Australian Government received Bringing Them Home: The ‘Stolen Children' Report. As far as I know, it is the only report ever which made politicians on both sides of the House, weep - such was the sadness of its contents. The report told of the removal of a whole generation of young people from their Indigenous parents, and of the placing of those young people in the care of white people: families, Churches, and Government institutions. However, another reading of the text indicates that what were also stolen were the identities of the young people: the loss of their traditional stories and beliefs; their cultural norms and values; their true sense of self.

There are comparisons to be made here with the notion of Catholic identity: who is trying to steal what? I believe that by focussing on ‘the who', we can more easily see ‘the what'. Garry Everett elaborates by naming five ‘whos': relativism, corporatisation, technology leading to lack of discernment, competition and fear. Read more

• Source: The Good Oil
• Image: Prince of Peace Catholic School, Plano TX

Garry Everett has spent all his professional life, as well as much of retirement, as an educator, and mostly of adults. Garry's enduring interests lie in family, Scripture, theology, and Church renewal. At a local level he is involved in social justice, ecumenism and Mercy Partners, a new Public Juridic Person. He is also a member of his parish council and parish St Vincent de Paul Conference.