Pope: the culture of economic wellbeing and attraction towards the provisional prevent
us from following Jesus
(Vatican Radio) In order to follow Jesus we must get rid of our culture based on economic
wellbeing and of our attraction for the provisional. This was the message highlighted
this morning by Pope Francis during Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. Addressing
those present the Pope invited us to examine our consciences and take stock of the
riches that prevent us from getting close to Jesus. The Mass, that was concelebrated
by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, also saw the participation of members
of the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers led by Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski
President of the Council, and a group of collaborators of the Vatican Department of
Economic Services, led by Mr. Sabatino Napolitano.
Jesus asked a young man
to give all his riches to the poor and then to follow him. But when the young man
heard this, he went away sad. Pope Francis’ homily found inspiration in the well-known
episode narrated in the Gospel, and he underlined that “riches are an impediment”
that “do not facilitate our journey towards the Kingdom of God”. And he pointed out:
“Each and every one of us has riches”. There is always, he said, a richness that “stops
us from getting close to Jesus”. And this must be singled out. We must all, he continued,
examine our conscience and pinpoint our riches because they stop us from getting close
to Jesus on the path of life”. And the Pope focused on what he called two “cultural
riches”: the first, a “culture of economic wellbeing that causes us to be lacking
in courage, makes us lazy, makes us selfish”. Wellbeing, he said, “anaesthetizes
us, it’s an anaesthetic”.
“No, no, not more than one child, because otherwise
we will not be able to go on holiday, we will not be able to go out, we will not be
able to buy a house. It’s all very well to follow the Lord, but only up to a certain
point. This is what economic wellbeing does to us: we all know what wellbeing is,
but it deprives us of courage, of the courage we need to get close to Jesus. This
is the first richness of the culture of today, the culture of economic wellbeing”.
There
is also, he added, “another richness in our culture”, another richness that prevents
us from getting close to Jesus: it’s our fascination for the temporary”. We, he observed,
are “in love with the provisional”. We don’t like Jesus’s “definitive proposals”.
Instead we like what is temporary because “we are afraid of God’s time” which is definitive.
“He
is the Lord of time; we are the masters of the moment. Why? Because we are in command
of the moment: I will follow the Lord up to this point, and then I will see… I heard
of a man who wanted to become a priest - but only for ten years, not any longer…”
Attraction for the provisional: this is a richness. We want to become masters of
time, we live for the moment. These two riches are the ones that, in this moment,
prevent us from going forward. I think of so many men and women who have left their
land to work throughout their lives as missionaries: that is definitive!”.
And,
he said, I also think of so many men and women who “have left their homes to commit
to a lifelong marriage”, that is “to follow Jesus closely! It’s the definitive”. The
temporary, Pope Francis stressed, “is not following Jesus”, it’s “our territory”.
Before
Jesus’ invitation, before these two cultural riches, let us think of the disciples:
they were disconcerted. We too can be disconcerted by Jesus’ request. When Jesus explained
something, people listened in amazement. Let us ask the Lord to give us the courage
to go forward, to rid ourselves of this culture of economic wellbeing, hoping in time
– at the end of the journey where He awaits us. Not with the small hope of the moment
that will no longer be of any use. And so be it”.