Pope Francis
By AsiaNews
August 1 2022
Francis at the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square made a new appeal to “stop and negotiate” to bring peace to the “attacked and tortured” Ukrainian people. “The arms trade is a scandal to which we must not and cannot resign ourselves.” The warning to everyone on the temptation of greed: what legacy do I want to leave after me?
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – “Material goods, money, wealth can become a cult, a real idolatry”. And the same wars “almost always have to do with the desire for resources and wealth”. Pope Francis said this today addressing the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus prayer.
The pontiff took the opportunity to thank for the welcome received on his “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada which ended yesterday and those who accompanied him with prayer. “Even during the trip – he added – I never stopped praying for the Ukrainian people, attacked and tortured, asking God to free them from the scourge of war. If we looked at reality objectively, considering the damage that each day of war brings to that population but also to the whole world, the only reasonable thing to do would be to stop and negotiate. May wisdom inspire concrete steps of peace ”, he wished.
Before the Angelus – commenting on the passage from Luke’s Gospel on a dispute over the inheritance (Lk 12:13) proposed today by the liturgy – Francis had invited us to meditate on Jesus’ invitation to keep away from all greed. “What is that? – he asked himself -. It is the unbridled greed for goods, the always wanting to get rich, a disease that destroys people, because the hunger for possession creates addiction. Those who have so much are never satisfied: they always want more, and only for themselves. But in this way he is no longer free: he is attacked, a slave to what paradoxically must have served him in order to live free and serene ”.
Greed is a dangerous disease not only for individuals, but also for society: “Because of it – Francis commented – we have come today to other paradoxes, to an injustice like never before in history, where few have so much and so many they have little or nothing. Let’s think about how many interests there are behind a war. Certainly one is the arms trade. This trade is a scandal to which we must not and cannot resign ourselves ”.
But Jesus – he continued – teaches us that, at the heart of all this “there are not only some powerful or certain economic systems: greed is in the heart of each one”. Hence the invitation to everyone to ask themselves: “Do I complain about what I lack or am I able to be satisfied with what I have? Am I tempted, in the name of money and opportunity, to sacrifice relationships and time for others? And again, do I happen to sacrifice legality and honesty on the altar of greed? ”. Altar, because – in fact – material goods themselves can become a cult. “Jesus – he observed – says that two masters cannot be served. And it does not say God and the devil, or good and evil, but God and riches ”.
But then, can’t one wish to be rich? “Of course, it is right to desire it – the pontiff replied – but rich according to God, who is the richest of all: he is rich in compassion, in mercy. His wealth does not impoverish anyone, it does not create quarrels and divisions. It is a wealth that loves to give, distribute, share “. And he invited us to ask ourselves again: “What legacy do I want to leave? Money in the bank, material things, or happy people around me, good works that are never forgotten, people I have helped to grow and mature? ”.
– AsiaNews
