Pope Francis at Mass: May
families find new ways of showing love
Once again, Pope Francis demonstrates his concern for
families who are cooped up at home with their children, praying, “May the Lord
help them discover new expressions of love”.
By Vatican News
“I am thinking of families who are cooped up”, Pope Francis
began the morning liturgy at the Casa Santa Marta on Monday morning. “May the
Lord help them to discover new ways, new expressions of love, of living
together in this new situation. It's a beautiful opportunity to creatively
rediscover affection…. Let's pray for families so that the relationships within
the family at this moment might flourish always for the good.”
Pope Francis reflected on the behavior of Naaman and the
people in the synagogue of Nazareth during his homily inspired by the readings
of Monday of the Third Week of Lent (2 Kings 5:1-15; Luke 4:24-30).
Indignation
Pope Francis unpacked the indignation demonstrated in both
of Monday’s readings. At first, the people in the synagogue like what Jesus
says. But when they ask themselves “what university did he study at? This is
Mary and Joseph’s son… He was a carpenter… What can He possibly have to say to
us?” they become indignant to the point that they resort to physical violence.
Naaman, too, becomes indignant when Elisha suggests that he bathe seven times
in the Jordan River. His reaction leads him to resort to verbal violence.
“Indignation always leads to violence”, Pope Francis said, “either physical or
verbal”.
What’s the problem?
Both Naaman and the people of Nazareth were “good people”,
Pope Francis said. “What's behind these good people that leads them to react
indignantly?” he asked.
He responded saying their idea of God was such that they
thought He “manifested Himself only through the extraordinary, through things
that are out of the ordinary, that God couldn’t act through the commonalities
of life, in simplicity”.
Reaction against simplicity
The indignation manifested in both readings is a reaction
against simplicity, Pope Francis continued.
“They despised the simple things. And our God makes us
understand that He always acts through the simple things: the simplicity of the
house of Nazareth…the simplicity of everyday work…the simplicity of
prayer…simple things. Instead, the worldly spirit moves us toward vanity,
toward appearances. Both end in violence. Naaman, who was very educated, slams
the door in the prophet’s face and takes off – violence, a violent action. The
people in the synagogue begin to get angrier and angrier. They make the
decision to kill Jesus, however unconsciously. They drive him out to push him
over the cliff.”
Indignant people
Proud people get indignant, but they are also poor in
spirit, Pope Francis noted. “The proud live only with illusions of being more
than they really are…. Many times these people need to become indignant to feel
that they are someone”, the Pope explained.
Pope Francis concluded inviting us to think about “the
indignation of the people in the synagogue of Nazareth and Namaan’s
indignation” as a result of the fact that they “did not understand the
simplicity of our God”.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét