Pope Francis spoke about peace in his homily at Casa Santa Marta. He said recently fires of war have been ignited. Thus, in order to quench them, there must be prayers for peace.
POPE FRANCIS
When we talk about peace, we immediately think of wars; for there to be no wars in the world, for a secure peace. It is the image that always comes to us, peace and not wars, but always outside: in that country, in that situation...
Each person should make the desire for peace personal. Pope Francis assured that God will provide world peace if He is asked so by everyone in prayer.
SUMMARY OF PAPAL HOMILY
(Source: Vatican News)
The way to remain in the Lord, as St. John says, is by loving one another, This is the secret to peace.
True love, according to Pope Francis, is not that of soap operas and television shows but is something that urges us to speak “well” of others. If one cannot speak well of others, it is better to shut one’s mouth, because speaking ill of others and “skinning” them is war.
Love is revealed in “little things”. “If there is war in my heart”, he argues, “there will be war in my family, in my neighbourhood and my workplace”. Jealousy, envy, slander, lead us to war with one another. They “destroy”, they are like “filth”.
The Holy Father urged Christians to ask themselves the number of times they speak “with a spirit of peace” and how many times “with a spirit of war”.
Pope Francis noted that usually the way we act in the family, in the neighbourhood and the workplace is an attitude of war. It destroys and dirties the other, which, he said, is not the love and the secure peace we asked for. In this, there is no Holy Spirit. Whether a layperson, a priest, a religious, a bishop, a Pope or anyone, the Holy Father said, it happens to each one of us – our immediate reaction is to condemn the other person. “To make war,” he said, “is the temptation of the devil.”
When the devil manages to make us go to war and light the fire of war, the Pope continued, he is happy he does not have to work anymore. “We are the ones who work to destroy each other”, “we are the ones who carry on the war, the destruction”, destroying “first” ourselves, “because we throw love out” and then the others. The Pope noted how much we are addicted to this habit of dirtying others. It is a seed that the devil sows inside us. In conclusion, the Pope prayed for a secure peace, which is “the gift of the Holy Spirit”, by trying to remain in the Lord.
Melissa Butz
