Christianity is a relationship, not a set of rules, says Pope Francis

Christians must follow the Ten Commandments, of course, Christianity is not about following the rules, it's about having a relationship with Jesus, said Pope Francis.

"A relationship with God, a relationship with Jesus is not a" Things to do "relationship -" If I do, you give it to me "," he said. Such a relationship would be "commercial" while Jesus gives everything, including his life, for free.

At the beginning of his morning mass on May 15 in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, Pope Francis took note of the United Nations celebration on the occasion of International Family Day and asked people to join him praying "for all families Spirit of the Lord - the spirit of love, respect and freedom - could grow in families “.

In his homily, the pope focused on the first reading of the day and his account of the early Christian converts from paganism who were "disturbed" by other Christians who insisted that the converts first had to become Jewish and follow all laws and customs. Jewish.

"These Christians who believed in Jesus Christ received baptism and were happy - received the Holy Spirit," said the pope.

Those who insisted that the converts observe the necessary Jewish law and customs "pastoral, theological and even moral arguments," he said. "They were methodical and even rigid."

"These people were more ideological than dogmatic," said the pope. "They reduced the law, dogma to an ideology:" You have to do this, this and this ". Theirs was a religion of prescriptions and, in this way, they took away the freedom of the Spirit ”, Christ without first making them Jewish.

"Where there is rigidity, there is no Spirit of God, because the Spirit of God is freedom," said the pope.

The problem of individuals or groups seeking to impose additional conditions on believers was present as far back as Christianity and continues today in some neighborhoods of the church, he announced.

"In our time, we have seen some ecclesial organizations that seem to be well organized, to function well, but they are all rigid, each member equal to the others, and then we discovered the corruption that was inside, even in the founders".

Pope Francis concluded his homily by inviting people to pray for the gift of discernment as they try to distinguish between the requirements of the Gospel and the "prescriptions that make no sense".