Pope Francis reminded the faithful that God has given us an identity as his beloved children, and, therefore, we are to break down walls of division between our brothers and sisters.
Speaking to those gathered at morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, the Holy Father stressed that “without Christ, we have no identity,” reported Vatican Radio.
Recalling the Gospel of Luke, the Pope explained that what Christ came to do “was to give us citizenship, a belonging to the people, a name and a surname.”
As a result, from “being enemies without peace,” Christ instead “has turned us into one by his blood, breaking down the walls that divide.»
“We all know that when we are not in peace with others, there is a wall. There is a wall that divides us,» he said, noting, however, that Jesus offers us his service to break down this wall so we can meet.
«And if we are divided, we are not friends: we are enemies. And he has reconciled us all in God. He has reconciled us as friends, as enemies, as strangers, as sons and daughters.”
The Holy Father also said we are to await Him, like servants awaiting their master.
“Waiting for Jesus. He who does not await Jesus, who closes his door to Jesus, does not allow him to go forward with his work of peace, of community, of citizenship,» for Jesus, he noted, «gives us a name.»
What he does, he noted, is “renders us children of God.”
Urging the faithful, he said, “We need to adopt an attitude that contains Christian hope. A Christian is a man or a woman of hope. He or she knows the Lord will come.»
“We do not know when, we do not know at what time,” Francis continued, “but He will come and He must not find us divided.”
Rather, the Pope said, the Lord must find us as “He rendered us with His service: friends living in peace.”