Pope to Clergy in Kenya: “There Must Be No Room for Personal Ambition”

Last updated on: November 27, 2015 at 11:33 am by Deacon Greg Kandra

Pope to Clergy in Kenya: “There Must Be No Room for Personal Ambition” 2015-11-27T11:33:38-05:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

From VIS:

In the sports field of the St. Mary School, belonging to the archdiocese of Nairobi and founded in 1939 by the Felician Sisters, the Holy Father met with clergy, men and women religious, and seminarians of Kenya, to whom he addressed an extemporaneous discourse in his native Spanish, including many expressions and idioms typical of his homeland Argentina. An interpreter translated into English, one of Kenya’s official languages.

Francis said that he was struck by the passage in St. Paul’s letter in which he says, “And I am sure of this, that He Who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”, and added, “All of you were chosen by the Lord; He chose each one of us. He began His work on the day He looked at us in Baptism, and then later when He looked at us and said: ‘If you wish, come with me’. So we lined up and began our journey. But it was He Who began the journey, not us. In the Gospel we read about one of the people Jesus healed, who then wanted to follow Him. But Jesus told him, ‘No’. If we want to follow Jesus Christ – in the priesthood and or consecrated life – we have to enter by the door! And the door is Christ! He is the one Who calls, Who begins, Who does the work. Some people want to enter by the window. It doesn’t work that way. So please, if any of you has friends who came in by the window, embrace them and tell them it would be better to leave and go serve God in another way, because a work which Jesus Himself did not begin, by the door, will never be brought to completion”.

“There are people who do not know why God calls them, but they know that He has. Go ahead in peace, God will let you know why He has called you. Others want to follow the Lord for some benefit. We remember the mother of James and John, who said, ‘Lord, I beg you, when you cut the cake, give the biggest slice to my sons. … Let one of them sit at your right and the other at your left’. We can be tempted to follow Jesus for ambition: ambition for money or power. All of us can say, ‘When I first followed Jesus, I was not like that’. But it has happened to other people, and little by little it was sowed in our heart like weeds. In our life as disciples of Jesus there must be no room for personal ambition, for money, for worldly importance. We will follow Jesus to the very last final step of His earthly life, the Cross. He will make sure you rise again, but you have to keep following Him to the end. And I tell you this in all seriousness, because the Church is not a business or an a NGO. The Church is a mystery: the mystery of Jesus Who looks at each of us and says ‘Follow me’”.

“So let this be clear: Jesus is the one Who calls. … He does not ‘canonise’ us. We continue to be the same old sinners. … We are all sinners; starting with me. But Jesus’ tenderness and love keep us going. May He who began a good work in you bring it to completion. … Do you remember any time in the Gospel, when the Apostle James wept? Or when one of the other Apostles wept? Only one wept, the Gospel tells us; he who knew he was a sinner, so great a sinner that he betrayed his Lord. And when he realised this, he wept. Then Jesus made him Pope. Who can understand Jesus? It is a mystery! So never stop weeping. When priests and religious no longer weep, something is wrong. We need to weep for our infidelity, for all the pain in our world, for all those people who are cast aside, the elderly who are abandoned, for children who are killed, for the things we do not understand. We need to weep when people ask us, ‘Why?’. None of us has all the answers to those questions. … There are situations in life for which we can only weep, and look to Jesus on the cross. This is the only answer we have for certain injustices, certain kinds of pain, certain situations in life. … Whenever a consecrated man or woman or a priest forgets Christ crucified, he or she falls into an ugly sin, a sin which disgusts God; it is the sin of being tepid, lukewarm. … What else can I say to you? Never stray from Jesus. In other words, never stop praying. ‘But Father, sometimes it is so tiresome to pray, it wearies us. It makes us fall asleep…’. So sleep before the Lord: that is also a way of praying. But stay there, before Him and pray! Do not stop praying”.

The Holy Father reiterated that “when we let ourselves be chosen by Jesus, it is to serve: to serve the People of God, to serve the poorest, the outcast, living on the fringes of society, to serve children and the elderly. But also to serve people who are unaware of their own pride and sin; to serve Jesus in them. Letting ourselves be chosen by Jesus means letting ourselves be chosen to serve, and not to be served”.

Read it all.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 27, 2015

A Catholic School Renaissance?

Next Post

November 27, 2015 High Ranking Priest in El Salvador Suspended After He Admits to Sex Abuse

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism Education education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution politics Politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized Vatican VATICAN vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book in the New Testament is the shortest?

Select your answer to see how you score.

3 John Philemon 2 John Jude

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »