The kerygma of proclamation cannot be dumbed-down into doctrine stored in the hard-drive (Evangelii Gaudium #164)

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Pope's Morning Homily: Be Open to God's Voice

Says Those Who Won't Dialogue, Disobey God 

During Mass at Casa Santa Marta

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

VATICAN CITY, April 16, 2015 (Zenit.org) - If you are not willing to have dialogue, you are disobeying God, says Pope Francis.

During this morning's homily at his daily Mass at Casa Santa Marta, the Pope made this statement and warned against those who preach against the newness of God. The Holy Father offered today's Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who celebrates his 88th birthday. 

Reflecting on the theme of dialoguing, the Pontiff said, "Obeying God means having the courage to change paths."
The Pope recalled the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, recounting the priests and leaders who ordered that Jesus' disciples stop preaching the Gospel to the people.

"They became infuriated and full of jealousy," as they saw miracles taking place in the disciples midst and the number of believers growing, Francis said.

"This is the drama of these teachers of Israel, of these theologians of the people of God: they didn’t know to listen, they didn’t know how to dialogue. Dialogue takes place with God and with the brethren."

The Pontiff said, "They did everything they could to not open themselves to the voice of God.

The Argentine Pope stressed that this resentment of those spreading the Gospel in Jesus' time increased as their egos were further offended, and expressed that similarly resentment exists today.

The Holy Father warned against those "who want to silence those who preach the newness of God."
In this Mass, the Pontiff urged, let us pray for the teachers, doctors, and those who teach the people of God, "that they would not be closed in on themselves" and "that they would dialogue."

Only if they open themselves in this way, he said, they will "save themselves from the wrath of God, which, if they do not change their attitude, will remain upon them."

Comment  by blogger: 

This is a most important warning of the pope. For those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, he is addressing not so much the "liberal" media with itching ears, but the angry conservatism within the Church which considers the pope to be violating "doctrine" because he is calling the Church, in the first instance, to make a gift of herself rather than insisting on "doctrine" Since he is insisting on Love and service as the first order of business, and not doctrine, those who have identified the faith with thought  rather than self-gift, in the first instance, presume that he is denying "doctrine." Those with a clear mind and heart on what is going on must clarify this forcefully. The pope is not changing the doctrine of the Church. But he is saying that faith is not reducible to doctrine. He is simply restating in living terms what Benedict XVI was trying to communicate in conceptual terms: "You cannot put revelation in your pocket like a book you carry around with you. It is a living reality that requires a living person as the locus of its presence" [Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger - Pope Benedict XVI - "God's Word" Ignatius (2008) 52].