Pope: "Faith cannot be negotiated, it requires courageous testimony"
VATICAN INSIDER STAFF
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/23861/
Courageously testifying faith in its entirety: this is the invitation Pope Francis sent out during the mass he presided in St. Martha's House this morning. The Pope stressed that although some live faith superficially, martyrs of the Church do exist in today's world. The mass was attended by an Argentinean family and some nuns from the Daughters of St. Camillus and the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity.
In his homily -- Vatican Radio reports -- the Pope commented on the reading in which Peter and John courageously testify the faith before Jewish leaders despite the threats made against them, while in the Gospel, the Risen Jesus condemns the apostles' disbelief. So the Pope asked this question: "How is our faith going? Is it strong? Or is it sometimes a little bit superficial?" When the going gets tough "are we courageous like Peter or a bit lukewarm?" Peter -- he pointed out -- did not keep his faith on the low and did not make any compromises because "faith cannot be negotiated." "Throughout history, the people of God have always been tempted to chop a piece off faith," the Pope said. More or less everyone is tempted "not to be too rigid." "But when we start to cut down on faith, to negotiate faith, selling it to the highest bidder -- he emphasised -- we take the path of apostasy, we begin to lack faith, lack faith in the Lord."
Pope Francis emphasised that the Church has had many martyrs throughout its history, "because to find martyrs one doesn't have to go down to the catacombs or to the Colosseum: martyrs are alive now, in many countries. Christians -- Pope Francis stated "are persecuted for their faith. In some countries they cannot wear a cross: if they do so they are punished. Today, in the 21st century, our Church is a Church of martyrs."
http://zh.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/04/06/
教宗方濟各：信德不能妥協，因此教會至今仍是殉道者的教會
（梵蒂岡電台訊）教宗方濟各4月6日在聖瑪爾大之家的小堂主持了復活八日慶期第七天的彌撒。阿根廷一個家庭，以及聖卡米洛修女會和善牧修女會的一些修女參加了禮儀。教宗在彌撒中表示：基督徒應該勇敢見証信德的完整性。
教宗在簡短的彌撒講道中，講解了復活八日慶期第七天的彌撒讀經和福音。讀經記載了聖伯多祿和聖若望不畏恐嚇，在猶太首領面前勇敢見証信仰；而福音則講述了復活的耶穌責斥那些不相信見証他復活的人。
教宗方濟各問道：“我們的信德如何？堅固嗎？或者有時候有點薄弱呢？”當困難來臨時，“我們是否像聖伯多祿一樣勇敢，或者有些遲疑不定呢？”教宗說，伯多祿不掩蓋信仰，也沒有妥協讓步，“因為信德是不容討價還價的”。然而“在天主子民的歷史中，常常有削減信德的誘惑”、“隨大流”的誘惑，以及“不要過於剛直”的誘惑。教宗強調說“當我們開始削減信德時，為信德討價還價時，在某種程度上我們是在向出高價者出賣信仰，我們也開始走上了叛教的道路，背叛上主的道路”。
教宗進一步指出：“聖伯多祿和聖若望的榜樣給了我們力量，但是在教會歷史中有許多的殉道者，直至今日也是如此，“我們並不需要到羅馬的地下墓穴或羅馬斗獸場去尋找殉道者，因為殉道者此刻還活著，在許多國家都有。教宗方濟各說，基督徒因信仰的緣故遭受迫害。一些國家不允許信徒佩戴十字架，若有人這麼做會受到懲罰。在二十一世紀的今天，我們的教會仍然是一個殉道者的教會”，仍然屬於那些像聖伯多祿和聖若望一樣宣稱“我們不得不說我們所見所聞”的人們。教宗繼續說，是這些殉道者“給了我們力量”，讓我們用生命見証“我們所領受的信仰，這信仰是上主賜給祂所有子民的禮物”。
教宗明確指出：“我們不能憑自己做這事，因為這是一個恩寵，信德的恩寵。我們應該每日呼求上主說：‘主啊，求檷保護我的信德，讓它成長，願我的信德堅固、勇敢，並在我必須如同聖伯多祿和聖若望一樣公開信德時幫助我，賜我勇氣’”。
教宗最后說，在今天，美好的祈禱詞或許是這樣的：願上主幫助我們守護信德，使它成長，讓我們成為有信德的人。
Faith cannot be negotiated
