"Times change and we Christians must constantly change". Pope Francis repeated this invitation to change several times during the Mass celebrated on Friday morning, 23 October, in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta. An invitation to act "without fear" and "with freedom", keeping away from tranquilising conformisms and remaining "firm in faith in Jesus" and "in the truth of the Gospel", but moving "continually according to the signs of the times".

The starting point for the reflection was offered to the Pontiff by the readings of this last part of the liturgical year, which propose in particular the letter to the Romans. "We emphasised," he recalled in this regard, "how Paul preaches with such strength, the freedom that we have in Christ". It is, the Pope explained, "a gift, the gift of freedom, of that freedom that saved us from sin, that made us free, children of God like Jesus; that freedom that leads us to call God Father". So Francis added that 'to have this freedom we must open ourselves to the power of the Spirit and understand well what is happening within us and outside us'. And if in the "past days, last week", we had dwelt "on how to distinguish what happens within us: what comes from the good Spirit or what does not come from him", that is, on discerning what "happens within us", in the liturgy of the day the passage from Luke's Gospel (12, 54-59) exhorts us to "look outside", making us "reflect on how we evaluate the things that happen outside of us".

Here then is the need to question ourselves on "how we judge: are we capable of judging?". For the Pope 'we have the capacity' and Paul himself 'tells us that we will judge the world: we Christians will judge the world'. The Apostle Peter also says something similar when he 'calls us a chosen race, a holy priesthood, a nation chosen precisely for holiness'.

In short, the Pontiff clarified, we Christians 'have this freedom to judge what happens outside of us'. But, he warned, 'to judge we must know well what happens outside of us'. And so, Francis asked, "how can we do this, which the Church calls 'knowing the signs of the times'?"

In this regard, the Pope noted that "times change. It is proper Christian wisdom to know these changes, to know the different times and to know the signs of the times. What means one thing and what another'. Of course, the Pope is aware that this 'is not easy. Because we hear so many comments: "I heard that what happened there is this or what happens there is the other; I read this, I was told this...". But, he quickly added, 'I am free, I have to make my own judgement and understand what it all means'. Whereas 'this is a job we don't usually do: we conform, we reassure ourselves with "I've been told; I've heard; people say; I've read...". And so we are quiet". When instead we should ask ourselves: 'What is the truth? What is the message that the Lord wants to give me with that sign of the times?".

As usual, the Pope also offered practical suggestions "to understand the signs of the times". First of all, he said, "silence is necessary: be silent and watch, observe. And then reflect within ourselves. An example: why are there so many wars now? Why has something happened? And to pray'. So 'silence, reflection and prayer. Only in this way can we understand the signs of the times, what Jesus wants to tell us".

And in this sense there are no alibis. Although in fact each of us may be tempted to say: 'But, I didn't study that much.... I didn't go to university or even to secondary school...', Jesus' words leave no room for doubt. For he does not say: 'Look how university students do, look how doctors do, look how intellectuals do...'. On the contrary, he says: "Look at the peasants, the simple: they, in their simplicity, know when the rain comes, how the grass grows; they know how to distinguish the wheat from the weeds". Consequently, 'that simplicity - if it is accompanied by silence, reflection and prayer - will make us understand the signs of the times'. Because, he reiterated, 'times change and we Christians must change continuously. We must change steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, steadfast in the truth of the Gospel, but our attitude must continually move according to the signs of the times'.

At the end of his reflection, the Pontiff returned to his initial thoughts. "We are free," he said, "because of the gift of freedom that Jesus Christ has given us. But our work is to examine what is happening within us, to discern our feelings, our thoughts; and to analyse what is happening outside of us, to discern the signs of the times". How? "With silence, with reflection and with prayer," he repeated at the conclusion of his homily.

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 24/10/2015]