It is "absurdity to love Christ without the Church, to feel Christ but not the Church", Pope Francis reiterated during the mass celebrated at Casa Santa Marta, pointing out that following Jesus is not an "idea " but a "constant abiding at home", the Church , where Christ always welcomes everyone, even if they are distant.
"Because Jesus did not only come from Heaven. He is the Son of a People. Jesus is the promise made to that People, which, beginning with Abraham, made its way toward the promise. These gestures of Jesus teach us that every healing, every [act of] pardon, always helps us return to our People, which is the Church".
Jesus always forgives, and his acts [of forgiveness] become "revolutionary" or "inexplicable" when they reach those who [seem to us to be too far gone], like Matthew the tax collector or his colleague, Zacchaeus. Christ's healing acts always lead people "home" - and thus it is impossible to understand Jesus without the People of God. "It is," he said, "an absurdity to love Christ without the Church, to feel Christ but not the Church, to follow Christ from the outskirts of the Church." "Christ and the Church are united," he said. "Whenever Christ calls a person, He brings that person to the Church." For this, said Pope Francis, "it is good [that a child] "come to be baptized in Church - Mother Church".
"And these, Jesus' gestures of so much tenderness make us realize this: that our doctrine, let us say, or our following Christ, is not an idea. It is a constant abiding at home - and though each of us has the opportunity and the real experience of leaving home for a sin, a mistake - God knows - salvation [means] going home with Jesus in the Church. These are gestures of tenderness. One by one, the Lord is calling us as well, to His people, into His family, our mother, the Holy Church. Let us think on these acts of Jesus".
