Pope warns against the temptation to embrace false
idols
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis
on Thursday reflected on how we are created in the image and likeness of the
Creator, and warned us – God’s children – against the temptation of undermining
our intrinsic dignity by embracing false idols.
The Pope’s words came during
a speech to members of the Italian Biblical Association whom he received in the
Vatican on the occasion of National Biblical Week.
Pope Francis remarked on the
theme chosen for the occasion which focusses on the male-female polarity in the
Scriptures.
He recalled the cycle of
catechesis held by St. John Paul II during the first part of his pontificate
regarding the many aspects of the relationship between man and woman stemming
from the analysis of biblical texts.
The Pope said that he
himself, during a Catechesis last year, had occasion to stress that “God, after
having created the universe and all living beings, created his masterpiece, the
human being, whom He made in his own image: ‘in the image of God he created
them; male and female he created them’” (Gen 1:27).
And inviting those present to
reflect on how we are created in the image and likeness of the Creator, he said
that it is essential to note the differences that exist within creation.
This, he said, helps us to
understand the dignity of all men and women, a dignity which has its roots in
the same Creator.
The Pope said we must never
forget we are all children of God and we are not only shaped by Him, but guided
by Him just as a father does with his children.
He warned against the
possibility of ‘degrading’ this dignity that has been granted to us by God and
said this happens when we embrace idolatry, when we make place in our hearts
for false idols – as narrated in the Bible passage about the exodus from Egypt
when Moses, tempted by the devil, built an idol made of gold (Ex 32).
This idol of gold, Pope
Francis said, symbolizes the attractive force of wealth, and the fact that man
loses his dignity when riches take the place of God in his heart.
Reiterating the preciousness
of the gift of dignity, Pope Francis reflected on the possibility of sharing
this dignity so that it triggers a positive reciprocity and he invited those
present to ask the question ‘How can I make the other feel worthy? How can I
"infect" the other with dignity?”
When one despises, segregates
or discriminates, the Pope concluded, he does not “share or infect the other”
with his God-given dignity
(Linda Bordoni)
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