Ave Maria Meditations
In April 2014, Pope Francis recalled in a homily that he gave at Saint Martha’s that “Christianity is not a philosophical doctrine, it is not a program of life that enables one to be well formed and to make peace: these are its consequences. The cross is the mystery of the love of God who humbles Himself. There is no Christianity without the cross! There is no way for us to abandon sin unaided. Christ humbled Himself to save us…
One cannot understand Christianity without understanding this profound humiliation of the Son of God Who humbled Himself and made Himself a servant unto death on the cross. To serve.”
The holy father added: “The heart of God’s salvation is His Son, who took upon Himself our sins, our pride, our self-reliance, our vanity, our desire to be like God. A Christian who is not able to glory in Christ crucified has not understood what it means to be Christian. Our wounds, those that sin leaves in us, are healed only through the Lord’s wounds, through the wounds of God made man who humbled Himself, who emptied Himself.”
