In his Friday morning Mass, Pope Francis warned about the temptation of calming one's conscience by not dealing with problems head on.
POPE FRANCIS
'To anesthetize the conscience. This is a great evil. All of us have problems, we are all sinners. Every one of us...But in the crowd, one forgets this. Everyone, but not me, right? That's how this worldly attitude rises, it's the daughter of evil.â?
The Pope also said one needs to differentiate between that which comes from God and that which comes from evil sources. Among those in attendance were Cardinal, Sean O'Malley and Hans Zollner, both members of the Vatican's Commission for the Protection of Minors.
EXTRACTS FROM THE POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
'There was another group,â? the Holy Father said, 'that did not appreciate him and sought to interpret Jesusâ?? words and actions in a different way, against Jesus. Some, for envy, others for doctrinal rigidity, others because they were afraid that the Romans would come and massacre them; for many reasons they sought to distance Jesusâ?? authority from the people, even with slander as in this case.â?
'The Evil One is hidden,â? the Pope said, 'he comes with his very educated friends, knocks at the door, asks for permission, comes in, and lives with that person. Drop by drop, he gives him instructionsâ? on how to 'do things with relativismâ?.
Pope Francis continued, saying 'Anesthetize the conscience. This is a great evil. When the Evil Spirit succeeds in anesthetizing the conscience, it is then he can claim a true victory, for he has become the master of that conscience.â?
What can one do against such attacks? 'Watchfulness,â? the Holy Father said, 'The Church counsels us to always make an examination of conscience: what happened today in my heart because of this?â? 'Discernementâ?, he concluded, 'From where do these comments, words, teachings come? Who says this? Let us ask the Lord for this grace: the grace of discernment and of watchfulness.â?
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