'During his homily in today's Mass, the pope spoke against the attitude of the Pharisees and doctors of law in Jesus' time. He said they reduced the faith to simply observing religious norms.
POPE FRANCIS
“These people appropriated the gift [from God]. They took away the aspect of 'gift' to turn it into their own possession. The gift that was richness, openness and blessing was closed, caged within a doctrine of laws—many of them. It was turned into an ideology.”
“Above all it is a moralistic ideology full of precepts. It's even ridiculous because it turns to casuistry in every situation.”
He asked to pray so Catholics could transmit the Gospel as a gift and not as a possession, nor in a sectarian, rigid manner.
SUMMARY OF POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican)
“I would also like to pray today for pastors who need to accompany the people of God during this crisis. May the Lord grant them the strength and the ability to choose the best ways to help. Drastic measures are not always good. Therefore, we pray that the Holy Spirit might grant pastoral discernment to pastors so that they might perceive measures that might not leave the holy, faithful people of God alone, and so that people of God might feel accompanied by their pastors.”
“The people must always keep that election in their memory—that they are a chosen people, the promise—so they always look ahead in hope, and the covenant in order to, daily, live in fidelity.”
“They don't understand that it was a gift. They take it as a possession. These people appropriated the gift. They took away the aspect of the gift to transform it into their own possession. The gift that was richness, openness and blessing was closed, put inside a cage.”
“So, the promise is no longer a promise, the election is no longer an election, the covenant is interpreted according to my own opinion. It becomes an ideology.”
