Pope reflection

In Pope Francis' recent address to the people I think the pope really made some good insights to how we can think of the Church as our mother. There were many passages that really stood out to me. One of them was talking about how the Church is like a mother because a mother generates life, "... She bears us in the faith, through the words of the Holy Spirit who makes her fertile, like the Virgin Mary." I had never thought about the Church like this before and I thought it was interesting how he made this connection. I also really liked the way Pope Francis explained Christianity by saying "A Christian is not an island! We do not become Christians in a laboratory...." I liked this because this was a unique way of thinking about what it means to be Christian. The meaning that stood out to me was that being a Christian is something that you do and participate in as a whole group and not just as one person, by yourself. I also liked how the Pope asked questions to the audience that made me think about connections I normally wouldn't have thought of. Something I didn't understand however, was why the pope said "... Generated by the Holy Spirit who makes these waters life giving; Mother Church gives birth to her children within these waves." Lastly, I liked how he said that the date of your baptism is the date of your birth in the Church. I liked this because I had never really thought of it like that before and it made me realize just how important baptism is. I love how Pope Francis started talking about the church as a mother because he really has me thinking about my relationship with the Church and what it means.
The pope also compared the Church with a mother that does not just stop at giving life. I really liked how he made this connection with things such as helping in sickness and suffering, when in the Church there are sacraments that help the Church be a mother to its people. What stood out to me in this section was the passage, "... Word of God, which is a light that directs the path of Christian life." I liked this because when I think about the word of God I think about the words in the bible or those said at mass and this was just a different perspective for me. I also liked how he used examples like nourishing through the Eucharist and forgiveness through penance to compare the Church to a mother and what she would do for her child. Another thing that stood out for me was when the pope said the Church "while 'making' Christians, is also 'made' by them." In this section something that was a little confusing to me was when he said "the Church is all of us! And if you say that you believe in God and you don't believe in the Church, you are saying that you don't believe in yourself; and this is a contradiction." I liked how the pope explained that we are all equal in the eyes of God.