Pope Francis said on Monday that charity, not titles, counts in the final examination of Christian life, during a meeting with members of various religious institutes holding their general chapters in Rome these days.
According to Vatican News, the Dominican Missionary Sisters of Saint Sixtus, those of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple and the Vocationist Fathers were the first recipients of the Pontiff’s reflection on discernment, formation and charity.
Thus, Pope Francis explained that through discernment one carries out “a laborious work of listening to the Lord, and to oneself and to others” that must be applied both in the “solemn moments of the great elections” and in “the daily moments of small daily decisions.”
It is a task that involves meditation, patient waiting, and the courage that leads “to understanding the will of God, suggested to the heart but never imposed,” the Vatican newspaper reports.
“Our world is in great need of rediscovering the joy and beauty of making choices, especially concerning definitive choices that determine a decisive turn in life, such as a vocation,” added Pope Francis before outlining the role that parents have in the discernment of their children.
“Therefore, we need parents who can help, especially young people, to understand that being free does not mean remaining eternally at a crossroads, making little ‘escapades’ left and right, without ever really taking a path,” he added.
Regarding the importance of formation, Pope Francis has urged religious to recognize that it is a “path of growth in holiness that encompasses the whole of one’s existence,” which is linked to a life of prayer, sacramental frequency, and worship.
The Pontiff added that “only those who recognize themselves as humble and constantly in formation” can also offer good formation to others. In this sense, he encouraged people to be “attentive to the concerns of the heart,” because it is one thing to have a “tranquil” heart and another thing to be “at peace, but restless.”
He also expressed his conviction that “in our time there is a need for educators who know how to lovingly become companions of the people entrusted to them” in a context “characterized by the dizzying and continuous circulation of information, but, on the other hand, dramatically poor in human relations.”
When speaking about charity, Pope Francis considered that any Christian, and in particular consecrated persons, must keep in mind as a criterion chapter 25 of the Gospel According to Saint Matthew, which speaks of the final judgment.
“The Lord will not ask us: ‘What have you studied? How many degrees do you have?’ (…) Here is the effective antidote to overcome, in us and around us, the culture of discard: please, do not discard people, do not select people with worldly criteria: how important they are, how much money they have… those worldly criteria, out with you. Do not discard, but welcome, embrace everyone, love everyone,” the Pontiff prayed.
The Pope urged the religious to ensure that “in their assemblies the impulse of gratuitousness and selfless love, thanks to which their presence in the Church began, is always alive and vibrant.”