In his Tuesday morning Mass, the Pope prayed for the 21 Coptic Christians who were killed by Islamic terrorists in Libya. In his homily, he spoke out against the violent tendencies people show. Everything from war to arms trafficking.
POPE FRANCIS
'Why are we like this? Why do we have this tendency to destroy? This is the problem. We see it in war and arms trafficking. We are entrepreneurs yes! But of what? Of death! Then we see how nations sell weapons to this country that's at war with this other country, and then it starts selling it to the other country so that the war can continue.â?
The Pope then added that all people can do good or evil. It just depends on which side one chooses to enrich. Through prayer, the Holy Spirit, he said, helps Christians choose the right path.
SUMMARY OF POPE'S HOMILY:
'This is the truth. We are also capable of destroying fraternity: Cain and Abel in the first pages of the Bible. They destroy fraternity. This is where wars begin. Jealousy, envy, so much greed for power, to have more power. Yes, this sounds negative, but it is realistic. You only have to pick up a newspaper, any newspaper â?? left-wing, center, right-ring ... whatever. And you will see that more than 90% of the news is news of destruction. More than 90%. We see this every day'.
'Why are we like this? Because we are capable of destruction, thatâ??s the problem. There are wars, arms trafficking ... 'But, we are businessmen!' Yes, but of what? Of death? And there are countries that sell weapons, are at war with one side but also selling weapons to them, so that the war continues. A capacity for destruction. Itâ??s not coming from our neighbors: itâ??s coming from us! â??Every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continuallyâ??. Everyone has this seed within, this possibility, but we also have the Holy Spirit who saves us! We must choose, in the little things'.
'And we have the strength, Jesus reminds us. Remember. He says to us today: 'Remember. Remember Me, I shed my blood for you; remember Me, I have saved you, I have saved you all; Remember Me, I have the strength to accompany you on the journey of life, not on the path of evil, but on the path of goodness, of doing good to others; not the path of destruction, but the path that builds: builds a family, builds a city, builds a culture, builds a home and much, much more'.
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