Posted on 02/22/2017 2:05:14 AM PST by BlessedBeGod
Francis made the comments in a morning homily at his Vatican residence
Whenever one is tempted to use the Church for pursuing personal ambitions or to be arrogant, pray to feel ashamed, Pope Francis said.
When the competitive bug strikes, reflect whether one can “see my Lord on the cross” and still be capable of wanting “to use the Lord for moving up” the ladder of success, he said on February 21 during his early morning Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae.
“May the Lord give us the grace of shame, that holy embarrassment — when we find ourselves in that situation, with that temptation,” he said.
In his homily, the Pope looked at the day’s Gospel reading (Mk 9:30-37) in which the disciples were arguing among themselves on the way to Capernaum about “who was the greatest.” When Jesus asked them what they were arguing about, “they remained silent.”
“They became silent because they were embarrassed about their discussion,” the Pope said.
The disciples “were good people, they wanted to follow the Lord, to serve the Lord. But they didn’t know that the path of service to the Lord wasn’t so easy. It wasn’t like joining a group, a charitable organisation, to do good. No. It’s something else and they were afraid of this,” he said.
Laypeople, priests, bishops — everyone is tempted, the pope said. It’s part of being Christian, so whoever wants to serve the Lord had better be prepared to be tempted, he added.
Some of the many ways people may be tempted is to use the church to pursue their personal ambitions, like manoeuvering, wrangling, pulling strings or backbiting to lead a church group or a particular parish or diocese, he said.
The desire to be important pushes people along a path of wordiness, which is why people must ask God for “the grace of feeling ashamed when we find ourselves in these situations.”
In the same Gospel account, Jesus is aware of what the disciples argued about and confronts them saying, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
May the Lord protect everyone from “ambition, the worldliness of feeling greater than others,” the Pope said, and may he “give us the grace of a child’s simplicity” and see only the path of service.
Hypocracy.
Bergo is a Heretic and Hypocrite.
papal islamist facilitator
Rules for thee, but not for me....
I was just thinking how rich the irony of the statements that have actually come out of the mouth of the most politicized pope of all time. Nancy Pelosi should tell him he needs to read it to find out what’s in it because I don’t think he really knows anymore...
Like the one over “climate change”?
As he uses the Church to engage in a power struggle.
Look in the mirror and try to say that with a straight face, Pope Francis? How do you feel about using the children of Adulterers feelings to justify giving the sacraments to their adulterous parents?
The Pope wants to destroy the teachings of Jesus, the Bible and Catholic Dogma ASAP? Francis' Agenda is more aligned with Satan than that of Jesus!?
True, and its always exactly what they are doing that they scream the loudest about,
And it would be humorous if his statement involved some trivial matter,
He is such a joke already. Where’s that picture of him with the clown nose?
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