Pope Francis, March 2014
Everyone has a secret talent
Once upon a time
Mine was hesitation
Procrastination
Fear
Be who you were called to be
and you will set the world ablaze (St. Catherine of Siena)
God chooses the weak
to lead the strong
Embrace how much you need Him
And then
Will He be able to use you
Humility
Does what it is told (St. Frances de Sales)
You are called to Lead
Not called to hesitate.
To let Him open up your sails
And see what happens when we soar
But sometimes we wait
Until someone else's pain
is more important than our pleasure.
Until we are so sick of choking on a dark world
All we want to do is feed it the light of Christ
You will never
Ever
No matter how much money you make
No matter how many friends you have
No matter how good you look in pictures
Or how happy your life looks from the outside
You will never find a greater joy
than leading people to the Christ.
Giving people Jesus
is the greatest joy of all
Don't wait until you're ready
It only takes 20 seconds of insane courage
To step out
Sit up
Buckle your seat belt
And get comfortable
with being uncomfortabble
This is not about you
this is not about the accolade
This is about heaven
Because your Master
Your Lord
Your King
will not rest
Until all of us are saved.
The longing of his heart is the salvation of all
And when you truly know him
You cannot rest
You won't sleep
No fear
No trepidation
No hesitation
"Peter, don't you know you're going to lose your reputation??"
Nothing will be able to stop you
from giving someone Christ
Because you are a rebel.
Going against the grain.
Thinking for yourself.
Instead of eating from a dumpster.
Stop
Just stop.
Worry is for cowards.
And you are an apostle.
You will find your arms reaching
Your hands holding
Your heart racing
As His hunger overwhelms you and you can hear his ache,
So Jump
Jump
Just... jump
And know He will catch you
Wherever you fall
"My son."
"Take courage."
"In this world you will have trouble.
Let's face it
Whether you follow me or not
You will have trouble. But take courage.
"For I have conquered the world."
"Be brave."
"Do not fear."
"Whatever you do."
"Don't you dare be afraid."
"For you - my daughter
My brave one
The darkness will overwhelm you
But you will not be overcome
Your enemy will surround you
But you will not be taken down
The God of angel armies
is always by your side
Give light
Give light
And the darkness will disappear
Maybe once upon a time
The troubles in our world were small
We could ignore them
But now, they are growing
And pounding like boulders
Knocking our brothers down
Tearing our sisters up
Our families are breaking
And the world follows in our wake
Do you still desire to be safe?
Taking casualties everywhere
Even the strongest soldier can fold
If he does not stand on Christ
Here comes the avalanche
But take courage
Be not afraid
It is I.
The time for pretending is over
The time for hiding in doubt has ended
For I am God and there is no other
And I can move mountains
I can raise people from the dead
Nothing is impossible for me
Draw near to God and He will always
Always
draw near to you.
And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
I will find you
I'm coming for you
Wherever you go
You are the Church
Our Rescuer has sent you
No one else is coming.
You are it.
You do not have to save the world
But you must not leave it the same
You are the Church
You once cowered
But now
You are the Witness of miracles
Full of grace
So I say to you
Lazarus, come out!
I say to you little girl, arise!
Do you still not understand?
The time to lead is upon us.
There is no longer time
To be safe.
Once upon a time
Mine was hesitation
Procrastination
Fear
Be who you were called to be
and you will set the world ablaze (St. Catherine of Siena)
God chooses the weak
to lead the strong
Embrace how much you need Him
And then
Will He be able to use you
Humility
Does what it is told (St. Frances de Sales)
You are called to Lead
Not called to hesitate.
To let Him open up your sails
And see what happens when we soar
But sometimes we wait
Until someone else's pain
is more important than our pleasure.
Until we are so sick of choking on a dark world
All we want to do is feed it the light of Christ
You will never
Ever
No matter how much money you make
No matter how many friends you have
No matter how good you look in pictures
Or how happy your life looks from the outside
You will never find a greater joy
than leading people to the Christ.
Giving people Jesus
is the greatest joy of all
Don't wait until you're ready
It only takes 20 seconds of insane courage
To step out
Sit up
Buckle your seat belt
And get comfortable
with being uncomfortabble
This is not about you
this is not about the accolade
This is about heaven
Because your Master
Your Lord
Your King
will not rest
Until all of us are saved.
The longing of his heart is the salvation of all
And when you truly know him
You cannot rest
You won't sleep
No fear
No trepidation
No hesitation
"Peter, don't you know you're going to lose your reputation??"
Nothing will be able to stop you
from giving someone Christ
Because you are a rebel.
Going against the grain.
Thinking for yourself.
Instead of eating from a dumpster.
Stop
Just stop.
Worry is for cowards.
And you are an apostle.
You will find your arms reaching
Your hands holding
Your heart racing
As His hunger overwhelms you and you can hear his ache,
So Jump
Jump
Just... jump
And know He will catch you
Wherever you fall
"My son."
"Take courage."
"In this world you will have trouble.
Let's face it
Whether you follow me or not
You will have trouble. But take courage.
"For I have conquered the world."
"Be brave."
"Do not fear."
"Whatever you do."
"Don't you dare be afraid."
"For you - my daughter
My brave one
The darkness will overwhelm you
But you will not be overcome
Your enemy will surround you
But you will not be taken down
The God of angel armies
is always by your side
Give light
Give light
And the darkness will disappear
Maybe once upon a time
The troubles in our world were small
We could ignore them
But now, they are growing
And pounding like boulders
Knocking our brothers down
Tearing our sisters up
Our families are breaking
And the world follows in our wake
Do you still desire to be safe?
Taking casualties everywhere
Even the strongest soldier can fold
If he does not stand on Christ
Here comes the avalanche
But take courage
Be not afraid
It is I.
The time for pretending is over
The time for hiding in doubt has ended
For I am God and there is no other
And I can move mountains
I can raise people from the dead
Nothing is impossible for me
Draw near to God and He will always
Always
draw near to you.
And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
I will find you
I'm coming for you
Wherever you go
You are the Church
Our Rescuer has sent you
No one else is coming.
You are it.
You do not have to save the world
But you must not leave it the same
You are the Church
You once cowered
But now
You are the Witness of miracles
Full of grace
So I say to you
Lazarus, come out!
I say to you little girl, arise!
Do you still not understand?
The time to lead is upon us.
There is no longer time
To be safe.