(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis warns against the corrupting effects of greed and accumulating wealth for ourselves, saying they are at the root of wars and family divisions. His words came during his homily at his morning Mass on Friday (June 19th) at the Santa Marta residence.
Taking his inspiration from the day’s gospel reading where Jesus warned his disciples not to accumulate treasures on the earth but instead in heaven, the Pope reflects on the many dangers posed by greed and human ambition. He said these vices end up corrupting and enslaving our hearts and rather than accumulating wealth for ourselves we should be using it for the common good.
Greed corrupts and destroys
“In the end this wealth doesn’t give us lasting security. Instead, it tends to reduce your dignity. And this happens in families – so many divided families. And this ambition that destroys and corrupts is also at the root of wars. There are so many wars in our world nowadays because of greed for power and wealth. We can think of the war in our own hearts. As the Lord said, ‘Be on your guard against avarice of any kind.’ Because greed moves forward, moves forward, moves forward… it’s like a flight of steps, the door opens and then vanity comes in — believing ourselves to be important, believing ourselves to be powerful… and then in the end pride (comes). And all the vices come from that, all of them. They are steps but the first step is avarice, that desire to accumulate wealth.”
Pope Francis conceded that it’s not easy for an administrator or politician to use resources for the common good and an honest one can be considered a saint.
“There’s one thing that is true, when the Lord blesses a person who has wealth, he makes him an administrator of those riches for the common good and for the benefit of everybody, not just for that person. And it’s not easy to become an honest administrator because there’s always that temptation of greed, of becoming important. Our world teaches you this and it takes us along that road. We must think about others and realise that what I own is for the benefit of others and nothing that I have now can be taken with me. But if I, as an administrator, use what the Lord gives me for the common good, this sanctifies me, it will make me a saint.
Don’t play with fire
The Pope said we often hear many excuses from people who spend their lives accumulating wealth but he stressed the only treasures we should be storing up are the ones that have value in ‘the handbag of Heaven’.
“It’s difficult, it’s like playing with fire! So many people calm their consciences by giving alms and they give what they have left over. This is not an administrator: the administrator’s job is to take (what is needed) for himself or herself and whatever is left over is given to others, all of it. Administering wealth means a continual stripping away of our own interests and not believing that these riches will save us. It’s fine to accumulate riches, it’s fine to accumulate treasures but only those who have a value, let’s say, in ‘the handbag of Heaven.’ That’s where we should be storing them up!
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis warns against the corrupting effects of greed and accumulating wealth for ourselves, saying they are at the root of wars and family divisions. His words came during his homily at his morning Mass on Friday (June 19th) at the Santa Marta residence. Taking his inspiration from the day’s gospel reading where…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis welcomed the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church, Mor Ignatius Aphram II, to the Vatican on Friday.
In his address to the Patriarch, Pope Francis spoke about the “bonds of unity and fraternity” that unite the Church of Rome to the Church of Antioch, recalling the meetings between Patriarch Mor Ignatius Jacob II and Pope Paul VI in Rome, and between Pope Saint John Paul II and Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka Iwas in Rome and Damascus.
“How much has changed since those first encounters,” Pope Francis exclaimed. The Syrian Orthodox Church, he continued, “is a Church of martyrs from the very beginning, and it is so today, too, in the Middle East, where it continues to endure, together with other Christian communities and other minorities, the terrible sufferings caused by war, violence, and persecutions.” And yet, the Pope said, “it seems that the powers of this world are incapable of finding solutions.”
Pope Francis called for mutual prayers for “all the victims of this brutal violence” and for victims “of all the situations of war present in the world.” He especially remembered two Eastern Archbishops who were kidnapped in Syria more than two years ago, as well as all those who have been deprived of their liberty. The Holy Father also asked for prayers for the grace “to be always ready to forgive” and to always be workers of reconciliation and peace.” This, he said, “is what animates the witness of the martyrs. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of unity in the Church and the instrument of the building up of the kingdom of God, which is a kingdom of peace and of justice.”
Pope Francis concluded his message with a call to strengthen the bonds of unity between the Catholic Church and the Syrian Orthodox Church. “Let us hasten our steps along the common path, keeping our gaze fixed on the day when we will be able to celebrate our belonging to the one Church of Christ around the same altar of Sacrifice and of praise.”
Below, please find the complete text of Pope Francis’ address :
Your Holiness,
Your Beatitude,
Dear Brothers,
It is a great joy to be able to welcome you here, close to the tomb of St Peter, so beloved by Rome and Antioch. I give a most cordial welcome to Your Holiness and to the distinguished members of your delegation. I thank you for your words of friendship and spiritual closeness, and I extend my greetings to the Bishops, the clergy, and all the faithful of the Syrian Orthodox Church. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:7).
The visit of your Holiness strengthens the bonds of friendship and fraternity that unite our Churches, the See of Rome and the See of Antioch. Saint Ignatius, the teacher of unity among the faithful in Christ, in his letter to the Magnesians, echoing the prayer pronounced by Jesus at the Last Supper, prays that there be “one prayer, one supplication, one mind, one hope in charity” to gather “as into one temple of God, as to one altar, as to one Jesus Christ, who coming forth from the one Father has returned to Him united” (7:1-2).
When the Patriarch Mor Ignatius Jacob II and Pope Paul VI met here in Rome in 1971, they consciously began what we can call a “holy pilgrimage” toward full communion between our Churches. Signing the Common Declaration on our joint profession of faith in the mystery of the Incarnate Word, true God and true man, they laid the dynamic foundation necessary for that journey that we are undertaking together in obedience to the prayer of the Lord for the unity of the disciples (cf. Jn 17:21-23). Later, the encounters between the Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka Iwas and Saint John Paul II, first in Rome and later in Damascus, have marked new steps forward, introducing concrete elements of pastoral collaboration for the good of the faithful.
How much has changed since these first encounters! Yours, Holiness, is a Church of martyrs from the beginning, and it is so today, too, in the Middle East, where it continues to endure, together with other Christian communities and other minorities, the terrible sufferings caused by war, violence, and persecutions. So much suffering! So many innocent victims. In the face of all this, it seems that the powers of this world are incapable of finding solutions.
Holiness, let us pray together for the victims of this brutal violence and of all the situations of war present in the world. In particular we recall Metropolitan Mor Gregorios Ibrahim and Metropolitan Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church, abducted together now more than two years ago. Let us recall, too, some priests and many other people, from diverse groups, [who have been] deprived of liberty. Let us ask the Lord, too, for the grace of always being ready to forgive and of being workers of reconciliation and peace. This is what animates the witness of the martyrs. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of unity in the Church and the instrument of the building up of the kingdom of God, which is a kingdom of peace and of justice.
Holiness, dear brothers, in this moment of harsh trial and of sorrow, let us strengthen ever more the bonds of friendship and fraternity between the Catholic Church and the Syrian Orthodox Church. Let us hasten our steps along the common path, keeping our gaze fixed on the day when we will be able to celebrate our belonging to the one Church of Christ around the same altar of Sacrifice and of praise. Let us exchange the treasures of our traditions as spiritual gifts, because that which unites us is much greater than that which divides us.
I make my own the words of your beautiful Syrian prayer: “O Lord, through the intercession of your mother and of all the saints, sanctify our and our dearly departed. May the memory of the Virgin Mary be a blessing for us; may her prayers be strength for our souls. Apostles, martyrs, disciples, and saints, pray for us, that the Lord might give us His mercy.” Amen.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis welcomed the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church, Mor Ignatius Aphram II, to the Vatican on Friday. In his address to the Patriarch, Pope Francis spoke about the “bonds of unity and fraternity” that unite the Church of Rome to the Church of Antioch, recalling the meetings between Patriarch Mor Ignatius…
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The eagerly-awaited papal encyclical entitled ‘Laudato Si’: on the care of our common home’ was presented at a press conference on Thursday morning in the Vatican’s synod hall, which was packed with journalists, diplomats and religious leaders. The 192 page document, published in eight languages, was introduced by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Justice and Peace council, together with a leading Orthodox theologian, an acclaimed German climate scientist, an American businesswoman and an Italian school teacher.
Philippa Hitchen tells us more about this unprecedented event:
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Pope Francis’ first encyclical focuses on the idea of ‘integral ecology’, connecting care of the natural world with justice for the poorest and most vulnerable people. Only by radically reshaping our relationships with God, with our neighbours and with the natural world, he says, can we hope to tackle the threats facing our planet today. Science, he insists, is the best tool by which we can listen to the cry of the earth, while dialogue and education are the two keys that can “help us to escape the spiral of self-destruction which currently engulfs us”.
If that seems like strong language, Professor John Schellnhuber, head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, used a power point presentation to show just how just how urgent the environmental crisis has become. His charts and diagrams showed how dramatically the use of fossil fuels over the past century has damaged the fragile equilibrium of the planet, leading to rising temperatures and threatening the existence of people in the poorest parts of our world. Global warming of just a few degrees may not sound like much, he said, but just compare it to a rise in your own body temperature…..
“You all have a body temperature of slightly below 37°C….add 2°, and you get a fever, add 5° and you will be dead…this is how climate change operates on the earth’s system…”
We are already crossing “planetary guardrails” Professor Schellnhuber said, adding that the problem is not over-population in the poorest countries, but over-consumption by the few richest people who own most of the world’s wealth.
Also welcoming the new encyclical was Orthodox theologian, Metropolitan John Zizioulas, who noted the Ecumenical Patriarchate was the first to highlight the seriousness of the ecological crisis with its own encyclical back in 1989. Neither Catholic, nor Orthodox, nor Protestant theology manuals traditionally had much time for ecology, he said, yet our scriptures tell us that God became man to save not just humanity, but the whole of Creation. We must recognize and repent of our ecological sins, he urged, stressing that this is the major task facing all the divided Christian Churches today:“I believe the significance of the papal encyclical is not limited to the subject of ecology…
“I see in the papal encyclical…….an important ecumenical dimension…..in that it brings divided Christians before a common task that they must face together”
Reacting to some of the criticism levelled at the encyclical, even before its publication, Dr Carolyn Woo, head of Catholic Relief Services and former dean of the Business School at Notre Dame University, said big business must recognize its potential to become part of the solution and not part of the ecological problem….
“We can clearly see that the Pope’s message is based on solid science….. for business which is so big on analytics, it’s important to open our minds and our hearts…..we cannot dismiss this just because we don’t like the message of this evidence”
At the heart of the Pope’s reflections in the new document is the question: “What kind of world do we want to leave to our children” and those who come after us? Politicians, business people, church leaders and individuals now have an important tool to help answer that question and respond to the pressing challenges facing our common home.
(from Vatican Radio)…