During his homily at Casa Santa Marta, the pope warned against being too concerned about being more important or wealthier than others. Pope Francis said worldliness is the enemy, since God asks for humility.
POPE FRANCIS
Who is the most important in the Church? The pope, the bishops, the monsignors, the cardinals, the pastors of the most beautiful parishes, the presidents of lay associations? No! The greatest in the Church are those who make themselves servants of all, those who serve everyone, not those who have the most titles.
He also called Christians not to let themselves be corrupted by envy. He said it is a worm that pushes people to destroy, bad-mouth and annihilate others.
SUMMARY OF POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican News)
This anxiety of worldliness, this concern to be more important than others, saying, “No! I deserve this, that person doesn’t deserve it,” this is worldliness, this is the spirit of the world, and those who breathe in this spirit, breathe in the enmity of God. Jesus, in another passage, says to the disciples, “Either you are with me or you are against me.” There are no compromises in the Gospel, and when someone wants to live the Gospel while making compromises, they ultimately find themselves with the worldly spirit, which always seeks to make compromises in order to climb higher, to dominate, to be greater.
This is the spirit of the world, and this is not Christian. [They say], “No! It’s my turn! I have to earn more to get more money and more power.” This is the spirit of the world. Then, [there’s] the wickedness of chatter: gossip. Where does it come from? From envy. The great envious one is the devil, we know that. It says so in the Bible. [It comes] from envy. Through the devil’s envy, evil enters into the world. Envy is a worm that pushes you to destroy, to bad-mouth others, to annihilate others.
Who is the most important in the Church? The pope, the bishops, the monsignors, the cardinals, the pastors of the most beautiful parishes, the presidents of lay associations? No! The greatest in the Church are those who make themselves servants of all, those who serve everyone, not those who have titles. To help us understand this, He took a child and placed him in their midst, and embracing him with tenderness—because Jesus spoke with tenderness, He had so much of it—He said to them, “Whoever receives a child, receives Me.” That is, whoever welcomes the most humble, the one who serves the most. This is the path. There is only one path against the spirit of the world: humility. Serving others, choosing the last place, not climbing the ladder.
Daniel Díaz Vizzi
Translation: Claudia Torres
