Pope Francis "contemplate Christ to open us to receive his heart, to receive his desires..." FULL TEXT + Video at Audience

GENERAL AUDIENCE

Paul VI Hall
Wednesday, 28 November 2018

Catechesis on the Commandments, 14-B: The new law in Christ and the desires according to the Spirit.

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In today's catechesis, which concludes the path on the Ten Commandments, we can use as a key theme that of desires, which allows us to retrace the journey made and summarize the steps taken by reading the text of the Decalogue, always in the light of full revelation in Christ .

We started out of gratitude as the basis of the relationship of trust and obedience: God, we have seen, does not ask for anything before we have given much more. He invites us to obedience to redeem ourselves from the deception of idolatries that have so much power over us. In fact, to seek one's own fulfillment in the idols of this world empties us and enslaves us, while what gives stature and consistency is the relationship with Him who, in Christ, makes us children from his fatherhood (cf. Eph 3,14-16 ).

This implies a process of blessing and liberation, which is true, authentic rest. As the Psalm says: "Only in God does my soul rest: from him my salvation" (Ps 62: 2).

This liberated life becomes the acceptance of our personal history and reconciles us with what, from infancy to the present, we have lived, making us adults and capable of giving the right weight to the realities and people of our lives. On this path we enter into the relationship with the neighbor who, starting from the love that God shows in Jesus Christ, is a call to the beauty of fidelity, generosity and authenticity.

But in order to live this way - that is, in the beauty of fidelity, generosity and authenticity - we need a new heart, uninhabited by the Holy Spirit (cf. Ez 11,19; 36,26). I ask myself: how does this "transplant" of heart, from the old heart to the new heart? Through the gift of new desires (cf. Rom 8: 6) that are sown in us by the grace of God, especially through the Ten Commandments brought to completion by Jesus, as He teaches in the "discourse of the mountain" (cf. Mt 5, 17-48). In fact, in contemplating the life described in the Decalogue, that is a grateful, free, authentic, blessing, adult life, guardian and lover of life, faithful, generous and sincere, we, almost without realizing it, find ourselves before Christ. The Decalogue is his "X-ray", he describes it as a photographic negative that lets his face appear - as in the Holy Shroud. And so the Holy Spirit fertilizes our heart by putting in it the desires that are a gift of his, the desires of the Spirit. To desire according to the Spirit, to desire at the rhythm of the Spirit, to desire with the music of the Spirit.
Looking at Christ we see beauty, goodness and truth. And the Spirit generates a life which, following these desires, triggers hope, faith and love in us.

Thus we discover better what it means that the Lord Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it, to make it grow, and while the law according to the flesh was a series of prescriptions and prohibitions, according to the Spirit this same law becomes life ( cf. Jn 6:63; Eph 2:15), because it is no longer a norm but the very flesh of Christ, who loves us, seeks us, forgives us, comforts us and in his Body reconciles communion with the Father, lost for the disobedience of sin. And so the literary negativity, the negativity in the expression of the commandments - "do not steal", "do not insult", "do not kill" - that "not" becomes a positive attitude: love, make room for others in my heart, all desires that sow positivity. And this is the fullness of the law that Jesus came to bring us.
In Christ, and only in him, the Decalogue stops being condemned (cf. Rom 8: 1) and becomes the authentic truth of human life, that is, the desire for love - here is born a desire for good, to do good - desire for joy, desire for peace, magnanimity, benevolence, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control. From those "no" we pass to this "yes": the positive attitude of a heart that opens with the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is what it is necessary to look for Christ in the Decalogue: to fecundate our heart so that it may be full of love, and open itself to the work of God. When man favors the desire to live according to Christ, then he is opening the door to salvation, which can not but arrive, because God the Father is generous and, as the Catechism says, "he thirsty that we are thirsty for him" (No. 2560).
If it is the evil desires that ruin man (cf. Mt 15: 18-20), the Spirit lays down in our hearts his holy desires, which are the seed of new life (cf. 1 Jn 3,9). New life in fact is not the titanic effort to be consistent with a norm, but new life is the Spirit of God who begins to guide us to its fruits, in a happy synergy between our joy of being loved and his joy to love each other. We meet the two joys: the joy of God to love us and our joy of being loved.

Here is what the Decalogue for us Christians is: to contemplate Christ to open us to receive his heart, to receive his desires, to receive his Holy Spirit.

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Greetings in Various Languages 

Je salue cordialement les pèlerins de langue française, en particulier le groupe des personnes malades et handicapées venues de Lyon. Frères et sœurs, laissons le Saint Esprit faire germer en nous le saint désir d’une vie nouvelle, qui est le désir même de Dieu de nous aimer et d’être aimés de lui. Que Dieu vous bénisse.

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those from England, Australia and the United States of America. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace. God bless you!

Einen herzlichen Gruß richte ich an die Pilger deutscher Sprache. Die Sehnsucht nach Gott lässt uns unsere wahre Identität finden. Prüfen wir uns, was das tiefste Streben unseres Herzens ist und ob wir die Freude des Heiligen Geistes wirklich zu unseren Nächsten bringen. Der Herr geleite euch auf euren Wegen.

[Rivolgo un caloroso saluto ai pellegrini di lingua tedesca. Il desiderio di Dio ci fa trovare la nostra vera identità. Chiediamoci quale sia l’aspirazione più profonda del nostro cuore e se portiamo veramente la gioia dello Spirito Santo ai nostri vicini. Il Signore vi accompagni sul vostro cammino.]

Saludo cordialmente a los peregrinos de lengua española provenientes de España y América Latina, y además veo ahí un grupo de jóvenes mexicanos, que también saludo. Y también en modo particular al grupo de Obispos y sacerdotes de la República Dominicana que celebran sus cuarenta años de sacerdocio. Animo a todos a descubrir a Cristo en el decálogo, a dejar que nuestro corazón, pleno de amor, se abra a su acción y podamos acoger así el deseo de vivir la vida que él nos propone. Muchas gracias.

Dirijo uma cordial saudação aos peregrinos de língua portuguesa aqui presentes. Ao concluir o Ano Litúrgico, somos convidados a ir ao encontro de Jesus, que nos espera em cada dia nos sacramentos, na oração e no próximo, sobretudo nos mais necessitados. Que Deus vos abençoe!

أُرحّبُ بالحجّاجِ الناطقينَ باللّغةِ العربيّة، وخاصةً بالقادمينَ من الشرق الأوسط. أيّها الإخوةُ والأخواتُ الأعزّاء، إنَّ الروح القدس يُخصِّب قلبنا ويضع فيه الرغبات التي هي عطيّته، ويولِّد حياة، وإذ تدعم رغباته هذه، تطعّم فينا الرجاء والإيمان والمحبّة. فلنستدعه بتواتر ليقودَنا على درب تلاميذ يسوع الحقيقيِّين. ليبارككم الرب!

Pozdrawiam serdecznie pielgrzymów polskich, a szczególnie Organizatorów wystawy, otwartej wczoraj w Papieskim Uniwersytecie Urbanianum, poświęconej polskiej Rodzinie Ulmów, rozstrzelanej w czasie II wojny światowej przez niemieckich nazistów za ukrywanie i niesienie pomocy Żydom. W kontekście rozważań o Dekalogu, niech ta wielodzietna Rodzina Sług Bożych, oczekujących na beatyfikację, będzie dla wszystkich przykładem wierności Bogu i Jego przykazaniom, miłości bliźniego oraz szacunku dla ludzkiej godności. Wszystkim wam z serca błogosławię.

Man džiugu pasveikinti piligrimus iš Lietuvos, atvykusius kartu su Vyskupais padėkoti man už neseniai vykusią mano kelionę į tą šalį. Sveikinu taip pat ir Popiežiškosios lietuvių Švento Kazimiero Kolegijos bendruomenę, švenčiančią 70-ies metų jubiliejų! Brangūs broliai ir seserys, mielai prisimenu kelionę į Lietuvą ir dėkoju jums visiems už svetingumą! Viešpats tedrąsina jus ir telaimina!

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I extend a cordial welcome to Italian-speaking pilgrims.

I am pleased to welcome the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus-Dehonians; the Priests who participate in the "Second Announcement Project", with the Bishop of Albano, Mons. Marcello Semeraro and the members of the Claretian Family.

I greet the parishes, especially those of Canosa di Puglia and Barletta; The Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association; the Nova Facility Group of Treviso; the Association new special talents, from Verona, and the Association for the fight against breast tumors.

A particular thought I address to the young, the elderly, the sick and the newlyweds.

Next Sunday we will begin the liturgical season of Advent. Let's prepare our hearts to welcome Jesus the Savior; we recognize in Christ the encounter of Christ with humanity, especially that which still lives on the margins of society, in need and suffering, and in so many wars.