When we don't allow the Holy Spirit to work, divisions in the Church grow.

When we don't allow the Holy Spirit to work, 

divisions in the Church grow. Pope Francis focused 

on the first reading from Acts which recounts the 

first steps of the Church which, after Pentecost, went 

out to the "outskirts of faith" to proclaim the Gospel. 

The Pope noted that the Holy Spirit did two things: 

"first it pushed" and created "problems" and then 

"fostered harmony within the Church." In 

Jerusalem, there were many opinions among the 

first disciples on whether to welcome Gentiles into 

the Church. There were those who said "no" to any

 agreement, and instead those who were open: 

"There was a ‘No’ Church that said, 'you cannot; no,

 no, you must not' and a ‘Yes’ Church that said, ‘but 

... let’s think about it, let’s be open to this, the Spirit 

is opening the door to us '. The Holy Spirit had yet to 

perform his second task: to foster harmony among 

these positions, the harmony of the Church, among 

them in Jerusalem, and between them and the 

pagans. He always does a nice job, the Holy Spirit, 

throughout history. And when we do not let Him 

work, the divisions in the Church begin, the sects, all 

of these things ... because we are closed to the truth 

of the Spirit. " But what then is the key word in this 

dispute in the early Church? Pope Francis recalled 

the inspired words of James, Bishop of Jerusalem, 

who emphasized that we should not impose a yoke

 on the neck of the disciples that the same fathers 

were not able to carry: "When the service of the 

Lord becomes so a heavy yoke, the doors of the 

Christian communities are closed: no one wants to 

come to the Lord. Instead, we believe that through 

the grace of the Lord Jesus we are saved. First this 

joy of the charism of proclaiming the grace, then let 

us see what we can do. This word, yoke, comes to my 

heart, comes to mind”. The Pope then reflected on 

what it means to carry a yoke today in the Church. 

Jesus asks all of us to remain in his love. It is from 

this very love that the observance of his 

commandments is born. This, he reiterated, is "the 

Christian community that says yes". This love, said 

the Pope, leads us to be faithful to the Lord" ... "I will

 not do this or that because I love the Lord”: "A 

community of' yes' and 'no' are a result of this' yes'. 

We ask the Lord that the Holy Spirit help us always 

to become a community of love, of love for Jesus 

who loved us so much. A community of this 'yes'. 

And from this 'yes' the commandments are fulfilled. 

A community of open doors. And it defends us from 

the temptation to become perhaps Puritans, in the 

etymological sense of the word, to seek a para-

evangelical purity, from being a community of 'no'. 

Because Jesus ask us first for love, love for Him, and

 to remain in His love. " Pope Francis concluded: 

this is "when a Christian community lives in love, 

confesses its sins, worships the Lord, forgives

 offenses, is charitable towards others and manifests 

love" and thus "feels the obligation of fidelity to the 

Lord to observe the commandments."