Saint Paul’s Conversion at Heart of Pope’s Morning Homily

At Casa Santa Marta, Francis Warns Against Rigidity, Double Lives

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 On the feast of St. Paul’s conversion,  Pope Francis has warned against rigidity and living a double life.

According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis did so today, May 5, 2017, during his daily morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta.

The Pontiff drew inspiration from today’s first Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, which recounts of Saint Paul’s conversion from Saul, “a rigid persecutor,” to Paul, “a meek and patient proclaimer of the Gospel.”

It was at the stoning of St. Stephen, that the name Saul appears, Francis recalled, describing the future evangelist as a “young,” “rigid,” man who was convinced of the rigidity of the law.

While he was rigid, he was “sincere,” Francis reflected. On the other hand, Jesus condemned those who were rigid, without sincerity.

No Double Lives

In his homily, Francis criticized those in the Church nowadays, who use rigidity to cover-up their own sins.

“They are rigid people living a double life: They make themselves look good, sincere, but when no one sees them, they do ugly things. On the other hand, this young man was honest. He believed that.”

“When I say this, I think of the many young people in the Church today who have fallen into the temptation of rigidity. Some are sincere, they are good. We have to pray that the Lord might help them to grow along the path of meekness.”

Others, he said, “use rigidity in order to cover over weakness, sin, personality problems; and they use rigidity” to build themselves up while sacrificing others.

In this way, Pope Francis explained, Saul grew even more rigid, to the point where he couldn’t tolerate what he saw as a heresy, and therefore began to persecute the Christians.

In parentheses, the Pope suggested, at least Saul allowed children to live, noting nowadays, those who persecute Christians don’t even spare children.

Turning to when Saul went to Damascus to arrest Christians, and on the road there, Francis stated Francis recalled how on the way, he encountered “another Man, who spoke with a language of meekness: ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’”

Sincerity, Meekness

“This rigid young man, who had become a rigid man – but sincere! – was made a little child, and allowed himself to be led where the Lord called him.”

This is, Francis pointed out, the power of the meekness of the Lord.”

Saul, having become Paul, the Jesuit Pope pointed out, proclaimed the Lord to the very end, and suffered for Him.

“He, who had persecuted the Lord with the zeal of the law,” Francis stressed, “said to the Christians, ‘With those same things by which you have drawn away from God, with which you have sinned – with the mind, with the body, with everything – with those same members now you are perfect, you give glory to God.’”

Warning Against Rigidity

Urging those present to pray for those who are rigid, “that they may follow the way of meekness of Jesus,” the Pope noted there is a dialogue between what is sufficient, rigidity, and meekness.

This is, he explained, “the dialogue between a sincere man and Jesus, who speaks to him with sweetness.”

Thus, he said, “begins the story of this man whom we have known from his youth, in the stoning of Stephen, who would end up betrayed by an internal conflict among Christians.”

Path of Christians

In the minds of some, the Holy Father admitted, the life of Saint Paul “is a failure,” like that of Christ.

Yet, he admonished, “this is the path of the Christian: to go forward along the path marked out by Jesus: the path of preaching, the path of suffering, the path of the Cross, the path of the resurrection.”

Pope Francis concluded his homily with the following prayer: “Today, in a special way, let us pray to Saul for those in the Church who are rigid: for the rigid who are sincere, as he was, who have zeal, but are mistaken. And for the rigid who are hypocrites, those who live a double life.”

Pope’s Morning Homily: True Christians Have Cheerful Faces, Joyful Eyes and Hearts

At Casa Santa Marta, Francis Reminds We Cannot Have 2 Masters

L'Osservatore Romano

True Christians have cheerful faces and joy in their eyes…

According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis made this observation during his daily morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, as he reflected on the readings from yesterday and today.

In yesterday’s, the rich young man wanted to follow the Lord, but his wealth led him to follow money instead. Jesus’ words in this story worry the disciples, as he tells them it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

In today’s reading from St Mark’s Gospel, the Pope said, we see Peter asking the Lord what will happen to them as they have given up everything to follow him.

With these in mind, the Holy Father called on faithful to consider the relationship between God and money, and recalling that we cannot serve two masters.

Can’t Serve 2 Masters

The Jesuit Pope repeated the Gospel words: “there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel, who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age.”

This, Francis noted, demonstrates that the Lord “is incapable of giving less than everything,”

“When He gives us something, He gives all of himself,” he said.

However, he noted, this means entering into a different way of thinking, a different way of behaving, for Jesus gives everything of Himself, “because the fullness of God is a fullness emptied out on the Cross.”

The gift of God, the Pope insisted, is a fullness which is emptied out. And this is also the Christian’s way of being, he noted, namely “to seek and receive a fullness which is emptied out and to follow on that path, which is not easy.”

How Do We Know If We Are Following This Path… Cheerfulness

“How do we recognize that we are following this path of giving everything in order to receive everything,” Francis asked, reminding that the words of the day’s first reading tell us to “pay homage to the Lord, and do not spare your freewill gifts.

“With each contribution show a cheerful countenance, and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy”. Give to the Most High as he has given to you, generously, according to your means.

“A cheerful face and eyes full of joy, the Pope said, these are the signs that we’re following this path of all and nothing, of fullness emptied out.”

Francis recalled that the face of the rich young man, not capable of receiving and welcoming this fullness emptied out, fell and he became very sad, whereas the saints and Peter were able to receive it.

“Amid all their trials and difficulties, they had cheerful faces and hearts full of joy.”

Francis concluded, recalling the Chilean saint Alberto Hurtado who worked with the poor amidst such difficulty, persecution and suffering, yet his words were ’I’m happy, Lord, I’m happy’.

“May he teach us to follow this difficult path of all and nothing, of Christ’s fullness emptied out and to be able to say at all times ’I’m happy, Lord, I’m happy’” he prayed.

Pope’s Morning Homily: ‘Never Converse With the Devil’

At Casa Santa Marta, Francis Says ‘Hope’ to Encounter Jesus

NOVEMBER 25, 2016DEBORAH CASTELLANO LUBOVPOPE & HOLY SEE, POPE'S MORNING HOMILY

L'Osservatore Romano

Never converse with the devil, who seduces and ruins lives.

According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis stressed this to faithful during his daily morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, drawing from today’s readings, which continued reflecting on the end of the world, as discussed in the Book of Revelations.

Seducer, Liar, Trickster

The Pontiff noted how in today’s reading the angel seizes the serpent, chains it up and throws it into the abyss, which is then locked and sealed, and stressed that the serpent or devil is thrown into the abyss “so that it would no longer lead the nations astray” because it is the seducer.

“He is a liar and what’s more is the father of lies, he generates lies and is a trickster. He makes you believe that if you eat this apple you will be like a God. He sells it to you like this and you buy it and in the end he tricks you, deceives you and ruins your life.

“‘But father, what can we do to avoid being deceived by the devil?’ Jesus teaches us: never converse with the devil. One does not converse with him. What did Jesus do with the devil?  He chased him away, he asked his name but did not hold a dialogue with him.”

How to Defend Oneself

Pope Francis went on to explain how when Jesus was in the wilderness, he defended himself when replying to the devil by using the Word of God and the Word of the Bible.

Thus, the Argentine Pope stressed, we must never converse with this liar and trickster who seeks our ruin and who for this reason will be thrown into the abyss.

The Holy Father also described how today’s reading shows how the Lord will judge the great and the lowly “according to their deeds,” with the damned being thrown into the pool of fire. Francis described this as the “second death.”

Not a Torture Chamber

“Eternal damnation is not a torture chamber,” he said. “That’s a description of this second death: it is a death. And those who will not be received in the Kingdom of God, it’s because they have not drawn close to the Lord. These are the people who journeyed along their own path, distancing themselves from the Lord and passing in front of the Lord but then choosing to walk away from Him.”

What eternal damnation is, he explained, is “continually distancing oneself from God.”

“It is the worst pain, an unsatisfied heart, a heart that was created to find God but which, out of arrogance and self-confidence, distances itself from God.”

Distancing oneself from God Who gives happiness and Who loves us so much, the Pontiff admonished, is the “fire,” and the road to eternal damnation.

Pointing out how the reading’s final image ends with a vision of hope, Francis noted that if with humility, we open our hearts, we will have joy, salvation, and will receive Jesus’ forgiveness.

“Hope is what opens our hearts to the encounter with Jesus. This is what awaits us: the encounter with Jesus. It’s beautiful, very beautiful,” Pope Francis said, concluding, “He asks us only to be humble and say ‘Lord.’ It’s enough to say that word and He will do the rest.”

Pope’s Morning Homily: Jesus Turns World’s Values Upside Down

At Casa Santa Marta, warns against the “I’m in charge here” attitude

© PHOTO.VA - Osservatore Romano

(From Vatican Radio)

Pope Francis began his homily by saying that if we want to be good and faithful servants of the Lord, we must guard against dishonestly and the pursuit of power. But how often, he said, do we see or hear ourselves saying, even in our own homes, that “I’m in charge here?”

Jesus taught us that leaders are those who serve others, and if we want to be first, we must become the servant of all. The Pope stressed that Jesus turns the values of our world upside-down, showing that the search for power is an obstacle to becoming a servant of the Lord

A second obstacle, he continued, is dishonesty which can also be found in the life of the Church. Jesus told us that we cannot serve two masters – God and money, the Pope warned, so we have to choose to serve one or the other. Dishonesty, he continued, is not just being a sinner, since we are all sinners and can repent of those sins. But dishonesty, he said, is being duplicitous and playing one hand off against the other, playing the ‘God’ card and the ‘world’ card at the same time.

These obstacles of dishonesty and the pursuit of power, the Pope said, take away our peace of mind and leave us anxious, with an ‘itch’ in our hearts. In this way, he said, we live in constant tension, concerned only about appearances and the worldly desires of fame and fortune. We cannot serve the Lord like this, he insisted, so we ask to be freed from these obstacles in order that we may find serenity of body and mind.

We are not slaves, but children of God, Pope Francis said, and when we serve Him freely we feel deep peace in our hearts. We hear the voice of the Lord calling “Come, come, come, good and faithful servant”. We all want to be faithful servants of the Lord, he said, but we cannot do it on our own and so we ask God for the grace to overcome these obstacles and to serve Him freely with peace in our hearts.

Pope Francis concluded by saying we must constantly remind ourselves that we are unworthy servants, unable to do anything on our own. Instead, he said, we must ask God to open our hearts and let the Spirit in, to remove these obstacles and to transform us into children whose hearts are free to serve the Lord.

—

Readings provided by the US bishops’ conference:

Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 492

Reading 1

TI 2:1-8, 11-14

Beloved:

You must say what is consistent with sound doctrine,

namely, that older men should be temperate, dignified,

self-controlled, sound in faith, love, and endurance.

Similarly, older women should be reverent in their behavior,

not slanderers, not addicted to drink,

teaching what is good, so that they may train younger women

to love their husbands and children,

to be self-controlled, chaste, good homemakers,

under the control of their husbands,

so that the word of God may not be discredited.

Urge the younger men, similarly, to control themselves,

showing yourself as a model of good deeds in every respect,

with integrity in your teaching, dignity, and sound speech

that cannot be criticized,

so that the opponent will be put to shame

without anything bad to say about us.

For the grace of God has appeared, saving all

and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires

and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,

as we await the blessed hope,

the appearance of the glory of the great God

and of our savior Jesus Christ,

who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness

and to cleanse for himself a people as his own,

eager to do what is good.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 37:3-4, 18 AND 23, 27 AND 29

R. (39a) The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

Trust in the LORD and do good,

that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.

Take delight in the LORD,

and he will grant you your heart’s requests.

R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

The LORD watches over the lives of the wholehearted;

their inheritance lasts forever.

By the LORD are the steps of a man made firm,

and he approves his way.

R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

Turn from evil and do good,

that you may abide forever;

The just shall possess the land

and dwell in it forever.

R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

Alleluia

JN 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Whoever loves me will keep my word,

and my Father will love him,

and we will come to him.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

LK 17:7-10

Jesus said to the Apostles:

“Who among you would say to your servant

who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,

‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?

Would he not rather say to him,

‘Prepare something for me to eat.

Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.

You may eat and drink when I am finished’?

Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?

So should it be with you.

When you have done all you have been commanded, say,

‘We are unprofitable servants;

we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

Culled from Zenith.org