Pope: humility and prayer not to "kill" the Word of God by exploiting it for personal interests, ideologies and theologies
Vatican City ( AsiaNews) - When the Word of God is exploited by personal interests, ideologies and theologies, it "dies", "the Holy Spirit is trapped", but the Word of God does not end, because it is alive in the hearts of simple , the humble , the people of God". Being humble and able to pray are "simple things" that help us not to "kill" the heart of the Word of God, said Pope Francis this morning at Mass in Casa Santa Marta.
Vatican Radio reports that the
Pope was commenting on the Gospel passage in which Jesus Jesus recounts the story of the
workers in a vineyard, who killed first the servants, and ultimately the son,
of the master of the vineyard, with the intention of making themselves masters
of his inheritance. This parable, was directed to the Pharisees, the elders of
the people, the priests; Jesus, the Pope said, was trying to show them "where
they had fallen" by not having their "hearts open to the Word of God": "This is
the drama of these people, and our drama too! They have taken over the Word of
God. And the Word of God becomes their word, a word according to their
interests, their ideologies, their theologies... but in their service. And
everyone interprets it according to their own will, according to their own
interests. This is the tragedy of this people. And to preserve this, they kill.
This happened to Jesus."
When they heard this parable, the chief priests and the Pharisees understood
that Jesus was talking about them - and "they sought to capture Him, and to
kill Him." In this way, the Pope said, "the Word of God dies, is imprisoned,
the Holy Spirit is caged in the desires of each of them." And that is exactly
what happens to us, the Pope noted, "when we are not open to the newness of the
Word of God, when we are not obedient to the Word of God":
"But there is a phrase that give us hope. The Word of God died in the hearts of
these people; and can die in our heart! But it is not finished, because it is
alive in the hearts of the simple, of the humble, of the people of God. They
seek to capture it, but they were afraid of the crowds of the people of God. That
simple crowd - that followed Jesus because what He said did their hearts good,
warmed their hearts - this people wasn't wrong. They didn't use the Word of God
for their own interests, they listened and sought to be a little bit better."
And so, Pope Francis asked in conclusion, "what can we do to not kill the Word
of God," to "be docile," to "not cage the Holy Spirit?" His answer? "Two simple
things": "This is the attitude of those who will to hear the Word of God:
first, humility; second, prayer. This people didn't pray. They didn't need to
pray. They thought they were safe, they thought they were strong, they thought
'gods.' Humility and prayer: with humility and prayer we go forward by listening
to the Word of God and obeying it. In the Church. Humility and prayer in the
Church. And so, what happened to these people will not happen to us: we should
not kill to defend the Word of God, that Word which we believe is the Word of
God, but is a word totally altered by us".
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01/05/2020 17:00
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