Pope
Francis: Only the Holy Spirit opens our hearts to love God
(Vatican
Radio) Pope Francis said only the Holy Spirit has the power to open our
hearts to God and his love and not thousands of spirituality, yoga or zen
courses. His words came during his homily at morning Mass on Friday celebrated
in the Santa Marta residence.
The
Pope’s reflections came from the day's gospel reading that recounted how the
apostles were terrified when they saw Jesus walking on water. And the
reason for their terror, he explained, is that their hearts were hardened.
"Mirror"
men and women and religious narcissists
Pope
Francis said a person’s heart can be made of stone for many reasons, such as,
for example, a painful experience in one’s life. But as he went on to point
out, another reason for hardened hearts is because people are closed in on
themselves.
“Creating
a world within one self, all closed in. Closed within oneself, in one’s
community or parish, but always closed in. And this closure can revolve
around so many things. But let’s think about pride, self-sufficiency, thinking
I am better than others, and vanity too, right? There are ‘mirror-men and
women’ (who are wedded to their own image in the mirror), who are closed in on
themselves and are constantly looking at themselves, right? These religious
narcissists, right? But they have a hardened heart because they are
closed in on themselves, they are not open. And they seek to defend
themselves with these walls that they have created around themselves.”
Hardened
hearts because of insecurity and fear
The
Pope said these hardened hearts in people can also arise from a problem of
insecurity, such as those who barricade themselves behind the laws and rules,
as though inside a prison, to feel safer and follow these rules to the
letter,
“When
a heart becomes hardened, it’s not free and if it’s not free it’s because that
person isn't capable of love, that was the fate of the Apostle John in the
first Reading. A love that’s perfect banishes fear: in love there’s no
fear, because fear is expecting a punishment and a person who's afraid doesn’t
have a perfect love. He or she is not free. They are constantly afraid that
something painful or sad will occur, that will cause their life to go badly or
will endanger their eternal salvation… What an (over-active) imagination, because
he or she can’t love. A person who isn't capable of loving is not free.
And their heart was hardened because they hadn’t learnt how to love.”
The
Spirit makes us free and docile not yoga or zen courses
Pope
Francis concluded his homily by stressing that only the Holy Spirit can teach
us how to love and free us from our hardened hearts.
“You
can follow a thousand catechism courses, a thousand spirituality courses, a
thousand yoga or zen courses and all these things. But none of this will be
able to give you the freedom as a child (of God). Only the Holy Spirit
can prompt your heart to say ‘Father.’ Only the Holy Spirit is capable of
banishing, of breaking that hardness of heart and making it … soft? No, I
don’t like that word, … ‘docile’. Docile towards the Lord. Docile
when it comes to the freedom to love.”
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