In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis spoke about the Holy Spirit's role in the lives of Christians.
POPE FRANCIS
“The Holy Spirit is the life of the Church, it's your life, my life... We are temples for the Holy Spirit and must guard the Holy Spirit, so much so that Paul advises Christians 'not to sadden the Holy Spirit.' That's to say, not to have a conduct contrary to the harmony the Holy Spirit makes within us and in the Church. It is harmony, it gives harmony to this building.”
The pope explained people are like living stones – unique and different – and each one contributes something to the Church's construction, according to the gift he or she was given by God.
EXCERPT FROM THE POPE'S HOMILY
“He is the corner stone of this building. Without Jesus Christ there is no Church. Why? Because there is no foundation. If you are building a Church – think of a material church – without a foundation, what happens? It collapses. Everything collapses. If Jesus Christ isn't alive in the Church, the Church collapses.”
“And us, what are we? We are living stones, not the same, but each one is different. This is the richness of the Church. Each one of us builds according to the gift we were given by God. We can't think of a uniform Church: that is not a Church.”
“How many Christians today know who Jesus Christ is, know who the Father is – because they pray the 'Our Father'? When you talk about the Holy Spirit... 'Yes, yes...ah, it's the dove, the dove,' and they stop there. The Holy Spirit, though, is the life of the Church, it's your life, my life... We are the temple of the Holy Spirit and must guard the Holy Spirit, so much so that Paul advises Christians 'not to sadden the Holy Spirit.' That's to say, not to have a conduct contrary to the harmony the Holy Spirit makes within us and in the Church. It is harmony, it gives harmony to this building.”
“We are all sinners, all of us. All of us. If one of you is not, raise your hand, because that would be a beautiful curiosity. We all are. This is why we must constantly purify ourselves. This also purifies the community: the diocesan community, the Christian community, the universal Church community. This is what makes the Church grow.”
