Dan Cirucci: Pope: Even Christians Need To 'Convert'

Monday, December 7, 2015

Pope: Even Christians Need To 'Convert'

“'Why do we need to convert? Conversion is for an atheist who becomes a believer, or a sinner who becomes righteous. We do not need it, we are already Christian' we think,” said Pope Francis to the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, before yesterday's Sunday Angelus prayer.

“And this is not true”, he added. “If we think in this way, we do not realise that it is precisely because of this presumption – that we are Christians, good and doing the right thing – that we must convert from the supposition that all things considered, it is fine this way and we are not in need of any form of conversion”.

“The voice of the Baptist still cries in today's deserts of humanity … closed minds and hardened hearts. It causes us to ask ourselves if we actually are following the right path, living a life according to the Gospel. Today, as then, he admonishes us with the words of the prophet Isaiah: 'Prepare the way of the Lord!'. It is a pressing invitation to open our heart and receive the salvation that God incessantly, almost stubbornly offers, because he wants us all to be free of the slavery of sin. … And salvation is offered to every man, and every people, without excluding anyone, to each one of us. None of us can say, 'I am a saint; I am perfect; I am already saved'. No. We should always accept this offer of salvation, and that is the reason for the Year of Mercy: to advance further in this journey of salvation, this path that Jesus has taught us. God wants all mankind to be saved by the mediation of Jesus, the only mediator”.

The Pope recalled that “each one of us is called to make Jesus known to those who still do not know Him. But this does not mean proselytising: no. It means opening a door. 'Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!', St. Paul declared. … I leave you with this question: Am I truly in love with Jesus? Am I convinced that Jesus offers me and gives me salvation? And, if I am in love, I have to make Him known! But we should be courageous: level the the mountains of pride and rivalry; fill in the valleys of indifference and apathy; straighten the paths of our laziness and our comforts”.

No comments:

About Dan Cirucci

He's been cited by the late Rush Limbaugh, quoted in the New York Times, featured at Real Clear Politics and Lucianne.com and interviewed across all media.

He's Dan Cirucci, the founder and editor-in chief of the Dan Cirucci Blog, a Save Jersey blog columnist, frequent guest on the Matt Rooney radio show and one of the most widely honored public relations professionals in his field. He's also been a public relations consultant to numerous organizations and individuals and hosted The Advocates on RVN-TV.

Inducted into the Philadelphia Public Relations Hall of Fame, for many years he served as a Lecturer in Corporate Communication at Penn State University. A former President of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association (PPRA) he has lectured at Rowan University, Temple University, The College of New Jersey and Arcadia University. He has conducted workshops on public relations for thousands of participants throughout the nation and has taught countless others the art of public speaking. He has also advised numerous lawyers, judges, public officials and political candidates.

Cirucci is a prolific writer and his op-ed pieces have appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier-Post, Broad and Liberty and other print and online platforms.

A native of Camden NJ, Cirucci is a former President of the Philadelphia chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Cirucci served as Associate Executive Director of the Philadelphia Bar Association for nearly 30 years. He served as Chair of Penn State University's Professional Advisory Board for the Corporate Communication major at Penn State Abington and on the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Judicial Selection Commission.

He received his MA degree from Rowan University and his BA from Villanova University. He has been named a Distinguished Alumnus of Rowan's public relations program and received the E. A. "Wally" Richter Leadership Award, the highest honor from the National Association of Bar Executives' Communications Section. He has also been honored by numerous other local, state and national groups.

In his hometown of Camden, Cirucci taught fifth grade at the Ulysses Wiggins Elementary School named for the founder of the Camden NAACP. There he was one of the first teachers in the country to teach African-American history to inner city students. He later served as editor of a local weekly newspaper, as Assistant to the Township Manager of Cherry Hill Township and as Associate Director of Communications at the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Cirucci's passions include all things Italian, politics, the popular culture, books and authors, art, communication, music, theatre, movies, dining and travel.

He and his wife Carole have two grown children and seven grandchildren.

Attributions & Terms Of Use

Unless explicitly attributed to others, the opinions and views expressed on this blog are my own, and do not represent the views of any employer or other organization.

By using this blog, you agree that all original content on this blog is copyright of Daniel A. Cirucci. You may quote from my posts provided that you clearly identify me as the author, link to the original post or home address of this blog, and do not charge for access to the website, publication or other media in which the quote appears.

I like to link to people who link to me.

Although comments are moderated, I accept no responsibility for what other people say, and I reserve the right to block or remove any comment for any reason or no reason.

Any e-mails sent to me are subject to publication, and any disputes regarding this site will be litigated exclusively in the jurisidiction in which I reside at the time of the dispute.

About Lijit Ads
We now have Lijit Ads on our web site. Please note that Lijit's Privacy Policy can be found here. Lijit collects only anonymous information unless a reader chooses to submit personal information to Lijit. Lijit permits readers to opt out of the collection of this anonymous site visit data by clicking here.