Pope: live detached from worldly goods and recognize yourself as 'poor in spirit'
“There are those who have the kingdoms of this world: they have goods and they have comforts. But these are realms that end. The power of men, even the greatest empires, pass and disappear. " "Riches too: the old people taught us that the shroud have no pockets." “Whoever loves the true good more than himself truly reigns. This is the power of God. "
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Recognizing oneself as poor in spirit, recognizing that we need, because "we are beggars". They are those whom Jesus calls "blessed": they are those who experience detachment from the things of this world and totally entrust themselves to God, they are of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Continuing the new cycle of catechesis on the Beatitudes, today Francis focused his meditation for the general audience on the first beatitude: Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Addressing the eight thousand people present in the Paul VI hall, Francis said first of all that "we must ask ourselves: what is meant here with 'poor'". Matthew, he stressed, not only uses this word, "which would have a purely economic meaning ", but speaks of "poor in spirit". "What does it mean? The spirit, according to the Bible, is the breath of life that God has communicated to Adam; it is our most intimate dimension, let's say spiritual, that which makes us human persons, the deep core of our being. Then the 'poor in spirit' are those who are and feel poor, beggars, in the depths of their being. Jesus proclaims them blessed, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them. "
“How often have we been told otherwise! You have to be something in life, to be someone ... You have to make a name for yourself ... This is where solitude and unhappiness come from: if I have to be 'someone', I compete with others and live in obsessive concern for my ego. If I don't accept being poor, I hate everything that reminds me of my fragility, because it prevents me from becoming important, rich. Everyone, in front of himself, knows well that, however hard he tries, he is always radically incomplete and vulnerable. There is no make-up that can cover this vulnerability. "
"But how badly you live if you refuse your own limits! Proud people don't ask for help because they have to prove themselves self-sufficient. How many need help but [their] pride [won’t let them]." In this regard, Francis repeated the "three basic words" in the relationship between the spouses: please, thank you, sorry. “They are words that come from poverty. Don't be intrusive, please; you did this for me, I needed it, thanks. And mistakes are always made, sorry. And often they tell me the third is most difficult ".
“And how difficult it is to admit a mistake and ask for forgiveness! Instead the Lord never tires of forgiving; unfortunately it is we who tire of asking for forgiveness (see Angelus March 17, 2013). Why is it difficult to ask for forgiveness? Because it humiliates our hypocrite image. Still, living trying to hide one's shortcomings is tiring and distressing. Jesus Christ tells us: being poor is an opportunity for grace; and shows us the way out of this effort. We are given the right to be poor in spirit, because this is the way of the Kingdom of God. But there is one fundamental thing to reiterate: we must not transform ourselves to become poor in spirit, because we already are! We are poor in spirit, we are poor people, we need everything, we are beggars. It's the human condition."
“There are those - he said then - who have the kingdoms of this world: they have goods and they have comforts. But they are realms that end. The power of men, even the greatest empires, pass and disappear. "
"Riches too: the old people taught us that a shroud has no pockets."
“He who knows how to love the true good more than himself truly reigns. This is the power of God. How has Christ shown himself to be powerful? Because he has been able to do what the kings of the earth do not do: give life for men. This is true power. The power of brotherhood, of charity, of love ".
“This is where true freedom lies. At the service of this freedom is the poverty praised by the Beatitudes. Because there is a poverty that we must accept, that of our being, and a poverty that we must seek, the concrete one, from the things of this world, to be free and to be able to love. The freedom of the heart, the one that has roots in the heart ".
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07/02/2017 13:58
