Mexican bishop says indifference to Christ is impossible

Mexico City, Mexico, Aug 30, 2012 / 15:03 pm

Bishop Pedro Pablo Elizondo of Cancun-Chetumal, Mexico called on all Catholics to make a radical choice for Christ, stressing that being mediocre or indifferent to the faith is not an option.

In an Aug. 27 column posted on the Mexican bishops' website, Bishop Elizondo reflected on the Eucharistic discourse by Jesus in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, and the response by the crowd who found his statements to be "hard."

"Faced with the rejection of his followers, Jesus was not frightened or discouraged; he simply asked them to make a radical choice," Bishop Elizondo said.  

"He asks those who admire him to make up their minds whether they are with him or against him. You cannot remain indifferent to Christ; you must decide. Either you believe or you don't, you stay or you leave, you are with me or against me."

Today's world "easily envelops us in confusion and doubt," the bishop added. "The world in which we love encourages a comfortable and mediocre life; the world in which we live fosters duplicity and incoherence."

Now, "more than ever we need to make a radical choice: either follow him or leave him, be with him or against him," Bishop Elizondo said.

"We can't light one candle for God and another candle for the devil. Christ asks us again, 'Do you also want to leave'?"

"You also have to radically decide and make up your mind, do you stay or do you leave, do you stay with him or do you go away, but you can't continue fooling yourself," he said. "I hope that, like St. Peter, you say, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.'"