For Pope Francis, God's kingdom doesn't grow through organization charts

Vatican City, Oct 25, 2016 / 13:05 pm

The kingdom of heaven is able to grow when its members are docile to the Holy Spirit – rather than when they focus on structures and organization charts, the Pope said during his homily at Mass on Tuesday.

"What is the Kingdom of God?  Well, perhaps the Kingdom of God is a very well-made structure, everything tidy, organization charts all done, everything and the person who does not enter (into this structure) is not in the Kingdom of God," Francis rhetorically suggest while saying Mass Oct. 25 at the chapel of the Santa Marta house in the Vatican.

"No, the same thing can happen to the Kingdom of God as happens to the Law: unchanging, rigidity … the Law is about moving forward, the Kingdom of God is moving forward, it is not standing still. What's more: the Kingdom of God is re-creating itself every day."

Divine law, the Pope said, is meant to help us as we are "journeying towards fullness" and "towards hope."

He recalled the parable of the yeast, which is mixed in with flour and makes bread, but dies in the process.

"What is the attitude that the Lord asks from us in order that the Kingdom of God can grow and be bread for everyone, and is a house too for everyone? Docility: the Kingdom of God grows through docility to the strength of the Holy Spirit."

He said that flour "ceases to be flour and becomes bread because it is docile to the strength of the yeast, and the yeast allows itself to be mixed in with the flour… I don't know, flour has no feelings but allowing itself to be mixed in one could think that there is some suffering here, right? But the Kingdom too, the Kingdom grows in this way and then in the end it is bread for everyone."

Docility to the Holy Spirit keeps one from becoming a "rigid person" who "has only masters and no father," he said.

"The Kingdom of God is like a mother that grows and is fertile, gives of herself so that her children have food and lodging, according to the example of the Lord. Today is a day to ask for the grace of docility to the Holy Spirit. Many times we are not docile to our moods, our judgements. 'But I do what I want….'  The Kingdom does not grow in this way and neither do we grow."

"It is docility to the Holy Spirit that makes us grow and be transformed like the yeast and the seed," he concluded. "May the Lord give us all the grace of this docility."