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: ‘Be Courageous’

At Casa Santa Marta, Tells Faithful to Examine Whether They Are Too Attached to Money, Embrace Christian Poverty

NOVEMBER 18, 2016DEBORAH CASTELLANO LUBOVPOPE'S MORNING HOMILY

© PHOTO.VA - Osservatore Romano

Are you too attached to money? Maybe you should make an examination of conscience.

According to Vatican Radio, during his morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta today, Pope Francis called on those present to reflect on this and to be courageous to embrace Christian poverty,

The Holy Father drew his inspiration from today’s Gospel where Jesus drove out the traders from the temple, accusing them of transforming it into a den of thieves.

Reflecting on money’s power and allure, the Jesuit Pontiff noted, how Jesus’s action helps us to understand “where the seed of the antichrist is contained, the seed of the enemy that ruins his Kingdom: attachment to money.”

“Our Lord God, the house of our Lord God is a house of prayer. Our encounter with the Lord (is) with the God of love. And the money-lord that enters into the house of God, is constantly seeking to enter inside. And those people who were changing money or selling things, they were renting their places, right? – from the priests… the priests were renting out those places and then received money.

“This is the lord,” the Pope warned, “that can ruin our life and can lead us to end our life in a bad way, without happiness, without the joy of serving the true Lord who is the only one capable of giving us that true joy.”

Francis then asked his listeners: “How is your attachment to money?  Are you attached to money?”

“The people of God have a great flair for accepting, for canonizing as well as condemning – because the people of God are capable of condemning – for forgiving so many weaknesses, so many sins by priests but they cannot forgive two of them: attachment to money, because when they see a priest attached to money, they do not forgive him, and mistreating people, because when a priest mistreats the faithful:

“The people of God can’t accept this and they do not forgive him.

“It’s sad to see,” the Pontiff also reflected, “a priest who’s at the end of his life, he’s in agony, he’s in a coma and his relatives are there like vultures, looking to see what they can take away.

Pope Francis then went on to urge faithful to make an examination of conscience.

Let us grant this pleasure to the Lord, a true examination of our conscience: ‘Lord, are you my Lord or is it these teraphims hidden in my heart, this idol of money?’

“Be courageous,” he also stressed, saying, “Make a choice. Sufficient money like that of an honest worker, sufficient savings like those of an honest worker. But all these financial interests are not permissible, this is idolatry. May the Lord grant us all the grace of Christian poverty.”

“May the Lord,” concluded the Pope, “give us the grace of the poverty of working people, those who work and earn a fair wage and who do not seek any more.”

Culled fro: Zenith.org

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