“Christ, brothers and sisters, is not a memory of the past,” the pope emphasized, “but the God of the present. If he were merely a historic figure, to imitate him today would be impossible: We would find ourselves faced with the great chasm of time, and above all, faced with his model, which is like a very high, un-scalable mountain; we would want to climb it, but lack the ability and the necessary means.”
“Instead, Jesus is alive. Remember this: Jesus is alive, Jesus lives in the Church, lives in the world. Jesus accompanies us, he is at our side, he offers us his Word and his grace, which enlighten and refresh us on the journey: He, an expert and wise guide, is happy to accompany us on the most difficult paths and the most inaccessible slopes,” he said.
In the day’s Gospel reading, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Pope Francis gave some thought to that topic.
“In general, [people] say good things,” the pope noted. “Many see [Jesus] as a great teacher, as a special person: good, righteous, consistent, courageous… But is this enough to understand who he is, and above all, is it enough for Jesus? It seems not.”
“Indeed,” he continued, “if [Jesus] were simply a person from the past — just as the figures cited in the Gospel, John the Baptist, Moses, Elijah, and the great prophets were for the people — he would merely be a good memory of a bygone time.”
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