VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christianity is not a school of ideas or a collection of beautiful temples and lovely art; it is a living people who follow Jesus and give witness to him every day, Pope Francis said. "Am I a Christian giving witness to Jesus or am I a simple numerary of this sect," unable to let the Holy Spirit "drive me forward in my Christian vocation?" he asked in his homily at Mass May 6 in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lives. "A Christian who doesn't give witness is unfathomable," he said, according to a report by Vatican Radio. "We are not a religion of ideas, of pure theology, of beautiful things and commandments. No, we are a people who follow Jesus Christ and give witness -- that is, want to give witness to Jesus Christ -- and this witness sometimes ends up being giving one's life," he said. In his homily, the pope looked at the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the church. Like Jesus, the saint was the object of jealous leaders who wanted to eliminate him and the target of false witnesses, the pope said.
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