2023-06-25 15:00:00
June 25, 2023 / 8:00 a.m.
This Sunday, June 25, Pope Francis urged the faithful to question what they are afraid of and stressed the need to renounce the idols of efficiency and consumerism so as not to waste life.
During the Angelus prayer from the window of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father reflected on the Gospel of the day, in which Jesus repeats three times to his disciples: “Do not be afraid” (Mt 10,26.28.31).
Along these lines, he indicated that for Jesus “what counts is not wasting the greatest good: Life. Don’t waste life. This alone should scare us.”
Next, the Holy Father invited: “Let us ask ourselves then: What am I afraid of? Of not having what I like? Of not reaching the goals that society imposes? From the judgment of others? Or rather, of not pleasing the Lord and of not putting his Gospel first?
The idols of efficiency and consumerism
The Pope affirmed that everything entails “a certain renunciation in the face of the idols of efficiency and consumerism.”
In this way, he recalled that today people’s lives are discarded: “Let’s think of the latter, often treated as discarded material and as unwanted objects.”
“Remaining faithful to what matters – the Pontiff specified – is expensive; it is difficult to go against the current, to free oneself from the conditioning of common thought, to be separated by those who ‘follow the wave’”.
persecutions and violence
On the other hand, in his preaching he explained that Jesus spoke of the persecutions that his disciples will have to endure because of the Gospel.
He stressed that “it seems paradoxical: the proclamation of the Kingdom of God is a message of peace and justice, founded on fraternal charity and forgiveness, and yet it encounters opposition, violence and persecution.”
Despite this, he urged not to fear: “Not because everything will go well in the world, but because we are precious to the Father and nothing that is good will be lost. That’s why he tells us not to let fear stop us.”
Subscribe to ACI Press
Receive our most important news by email
Then he indicated that the “real fear that one must have is to throw away one’s own life.” In this sense, he pointed to the “image that Jesus uses” in the Gospel: “The one of the ‘Gehenna’ Valley, which “was the great garbage dump of the city” of Jerusalem.
Being afraid of wasting life
He insisted that the faithful do not have so much “afraid of suffering misunderstandings and criticism, of losing prestige and economic advantages for remaining faithful to the Gospel, but of wasting existence looking for things of little value, which do not give meaning to life.”
He recalled that “even today one can be the object of ridicule or discrimination if he does not follow certain fashion models, which, however, often put second-rate realities at the center: things instead of people, performance instead of relationships” .
The Holy Father thought of parents, who “need to work to support their family, but they cannot live only for work, they need time to be with their children.”
“I am also thinking,” he continued, “of a priest or a nun, who must be committed to their service, but without forgetting to dedicate time to be with Jesus, otherwise they fall into spiritual worldliness and lose the sense of who they are.” I note.
Likewise, he turned his gaze to young people who “have a thousand commitments and passions: school, sports, various interests, mobile phones and social networks, but need to meet people and achieve big dreams, without wasting time on things that they pass and leave no trace.”
“Mary, Virgin Wise Mother, help us to be wise and courageous in the decisions we make,” Pope Francis concluded.
#Pope #Francis #asks #waste #greatest #good #Life