02 2020

Pope Francis - Holy Mass Santa Marta (Domus Sanctae Marthae) 25.02.20

Love for the world is the enemy of God.

This concern to be more important than others, saying, “No! I deserve this, that person doesn’t deserve it”: this is worldliness.

So many wars and so many quarrels come precisely from worldly desires, from passions. This is not Christian.

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.

There is only one road against the spirit of the world: humility. Serving others, choosing the last place, not climbing the ladder.

“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all”.

Pope Francis - Holy Mass Santa Marta (Domus Sanctae Marthae) 18.02.20

Compassion is what the Lord wants in us.

The hard heart leads to quarrels, it leads to wars, it leads to selfishness, it leads to the destruction of the brother, because there is no compassion.

Let us ask for the grace to have a heart that is not ideological and therefore hardened, but open and compassionate in the face of what is happening in the world because by this we will be judged on the day of judgment, not by our ideas or our ideologies. "I was hungry, you fed me; I've been in prison, you've come to see me; I was afflicted and you consoled me" is written in the Gospel and this is compassion, this is the non-hardness of heart. And humility, the memory of our roots and our salvation, will help us to preserve it.

The Lord cannot enter hard hearts; the Lord cannot enter ideological hearts. The Lord enters only the hearts that are like his heart: compassionate hearts, hearts that have compassion, open hearts. Let the Lord give us this grace.

Pope Francis - Holy Mass Santa Marta (Domus Sanctae Marthae) 13.02.20

The First Reading (1 Kings 11:4-13), tells of the apostasy of Solomon as he turns away from the Lord in his old age. . King Solomon did not just sin once but slid into sin.

The women led his heart astray, and the Lord rebuked him: ‘You have turned your heart away.’ This happens in our own lives. But wherein lies the danger? Letting ourselves slide slowly, because it is an anesthetized fall. You don’t even realize it, but slowly you slip. Things get relativized, and faithfulness to God is lost.

How often do we forget the Lord and begin to deal with other gods: money, vanity, pride. But this is done slowly, and without the grace of God everything is lost. For us this slippery slide in life is towards worldliness. This is the grave sin: ‘Everyone is doing it, don’t worry about it; obviously it’s not ideal, but…’ We justify ourselves with these words to the price of losing our faithfulness to the one God. They are modern idols. There is no way to maintain a good relationship with God and the devil.

Let us ask the Lord for the grace to understand when our heart begins to weaken and to slide, so that we can stop. It will be His grace and His love that will stop us if we pray for him.

Pope Francis - Holy Mass Santa Marta (Domus Sanctae Marthae) 04.02.20

God's love reaches the extreme. Who is on the cross, is God, the Son of the Father, sent to give life for us.

It would be good in the difficult moments in our lives — and we all have them — in moments of sin, in moments when we feel far from God, to hear this voice in our hearts: ‘My son, my daughters, what are you doing? Don’t kill yourself, please. I died for you.