During his homily on Tuesday in Casa Santa Marta, the Pope distinguished between real harmony and contrived tranquility. The first, he said, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, while the other is a way to cover internal divisions.
Pope Francis said that harmony was a godsend and gave as an example the first Christians.
POPE FRANCIS
'The true 'harmony' of the Holy Spirit has a very strong relationship with money: money is the enemy of harmony; money is selfish. And for this reason, they freely gave of their own goods so that others would not be in need.â?
The Pope said that God and money are two 'irreconcilableâ? masters.
The Catholic Church of Panama was present at the Mass with Cardinal José Luis Lacunza, Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa and a large group of pilgrims.
EXCERPTS FROM PAPAL HOMILY
Source: Vatican Radio
'We can negotiate some sort of peace ... but harmony is an inner grace that only the Holy Spirit can grant. And these communities lived in harmony. And there are two signs of harmony: there is no one wanting, that is, everything was shared. In what sense? They had one heart, one soul, and no one considered as his own any property that belonged to him, but everything was shared in common amongst them. None of them was ever in need. Proof of the first Christian communityâ??s harmony, the Pope says, was shown in the fact that they freely gave of their own goods 'so that others would not be in need.'
'A community can be very tranquilâ?¦things are fine ... But it is not harmonious. I once heard a wise thing from a bishop: 'There is tranquility in the diocese. But if you touch on a certain problem - this problem or that problem - war breaks out.â?? This is negotiated harmony, and this is not of the Spirit. Letâ??s say that itâ??s a hypocritical harmony like that of Ananias and Saphira and what they did.'
'The harmony of the Holy Spirit, he adds, also fortifies us with courage. 'â??With great power the Apostles bore witness to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all:â?? namely, courage. When there is harmony in the Church, in the community, there is courage, the courage to bear witness to the Risen Lord.'
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