Pope Francis asks Christians to ponder on spiritual journey

Pope Francis, during the the morning mass at the Santa Marta residence at the Vatican on Tuesday, spoke about the many Christians who are confused, and categorized them into: the "mummified" or motionless ones; the stubborn; the vagabond; and the half-way Christians or those who stop in the middle of the journey.

In his homily, the Pope reflected on Jesus' words, "I am the Way," and according to Radio Vaticana, he told those who were present that Christians need to follow Jesus consistently. However, some get held back, and these confused ones are unable to continue on their Christian journey.

The Christians who stay still and don't move forward are what he called "non-Christian Christians." One can't tell what they are since they are Christians, he said, but are slightly paganized. These people don't move forward in their spiritual lives and "don't make the Beatitudes bloom in their lives."

"Excuse me for saying it, but they are like an (embalmed) mummy," the pope said, "a spiritual mummy there. There are Christians who are 'spiritual mummies,' motionless, there. They don't do evil but they don't do good deeds."

The stubborn Christians, meanwhile, are those who know that they are moving forward in the wrong path but stil insist that it's the right way to go. These refuse to listen to God, who tells them that they're going in the wrong direction.

The vagabond Christians, on the other hand, are the wanderers in their spiritual lives -- those who move forward in their journey but don't really know where they're going. They have lost the call of Jesus and don't have a compass to find the way out.

"They lose their way because they are constantly turning and often this turning is wrong and takes them to a dead end," the pope explained. "Turning so many times, (the road) becomes a labyrinth and then they don't know how to get out."

Finally, the half-way Christians are those who get distracted, become fascinated, and are seduced by human things -- it might be an object, an idea, a proposal, or a landscape. He said that Christian life is not a fascination; rather, it's the truth.

As he drew to a close, he asked his listeners to check their own lives to see if they, too, have stopped along the way or if they are still following Jesus.

"Today let us ponder this question just for five minutes," Pope Francis said. "How am I doing on this Christian journey? Am I standing still, making mistakes, turning here and there, stopping in front of the things that I like, or (am I following) Jesus who said 'I who am the Way'?"