In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis asked not to be carried away by small jealousies or envy, because they open the door to division. Pope Francis explained that these attitudes are not Christianlike, and instead destroy fellowship.
POPE FRANCIS
'And so it grows, the hostility grows and ends badly. Always. I am detached from my brother, this is not my brother, this is an enemy that must be destroyed and thrown away... this enmity destroys families, peoples, everything! One's life is filled with bitterness because of the obsession with this person. This happened to Cain, who ended up killing his brother. No, there is no brother. There is only me. There is no longer a brotherhood. There is only me.â?
Finally, the pope invited us to pray for those that we 'destroy with our tongue', and for those who are treated as things and instead of people.
EXTRACTS FROM POPE'S HOMILY
VATICAN RADIO
'Cain chose to harbor this sentiment and let it grow. The sin he will then commit is crouching within this sentiment. This, he continued, is how enmity between us begins with a tiny spark of jealousy or envy, and ends up growing so much that we see life only from that point of view: 'the speck of sawdust becomes a plank in our eye, our life revolves around it and it ends up destroying the bond of brotherhood; it destroys fraternity.â?
Gradually, the Pope said, one becomes 'obsessed, persecutedâ? by that evil that grows and grows.
He said that this leads one to detach oneself from oneâ??s brother turning him into an enemy who must be destroyed. 'This enmity, he continued, ends up destroying families, peoples, everything!This is what happened to Cain who ended up killing his brotherâ? he said pointing out that this process must be stopped immediately, at the very first sign of bitterness and resentment.
'Bitterness is not Christian. Pain is, but not bitterness. Resentment is not a Christianâ? he said. The blood of many people cries out to God from the soil.
'How many powerful people of the world can say: I'm interested in this area, I'm interested in this piece of landâ?¦ if a bomb falls and kills 200 children it is not my fault, itâ??s the fault of the bomb. I'm just interested in the landâ?¦â? he said.
It all begins, Pope Francis said, with that feeling that makes you break away, not recognizing your brother, and it ends in a war that kills. This, he said, is the process of bloodshed, and the blood of so many people in the world today cries out to God from the soil. The Pope concluded his homily asking the Lord to help us to repeat His words: 'Where is your brother?â? and to think of those who 'we destroy with our tonguesâ? and of those who 'in the world are treated as things and not as brothers, because a piece of land is more important than the bond of brotherhoodâ?.
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