Pope Francis: the corrupt harm the Church; the saints are a light for all
Sinners, the corrupt, and saints: Pope Francis focused on these three groups in his
homily for Mass Monday morning in at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope said the corrupt
do great harm to the Church because they are worshipers of themselves; the saints,
on the other hand, do great good, they are lights in the Church.
What happens
when we want to become the owners of the vineyard? The parable of the wicked tenants
in Monday's Gospel reading provided the starting point for Pope Francis’ homily, which
focused on “the three models of Christians in the Church: sinners, corrupt persons;
and the saints.” The Pope noted that “there is no need to talk too much about sinners,
because we are all sinners." "We recognize this from the inside,” he continued, “and
we know what a sinner is. If any one of us does not feel that way, he should make
a visit to a spiritual doctor” because “something is wrong.” The parable, however,
presents us with another figure, the figure of those who want “to take possession
of the vineyard, and who have lost the relationship with the Master of the vineyard,”
a Master who, “has called us with love, who protects us, but who then gives us freedom.”
Those who would take possession of the vineyard, “think they are strong, they think
they are independent of God”:
“These, slowly, slipped on that autonomy,
that independence in their relationship with God: ‘We don’t need that Master, who
shouldn’t come and disturb us!’ And we go forward with this. These are the corrupt!
These were sinners like all of us, but they have taken a step beyond that, as if they
were confirmed in their sin: they don’t need God! But it only seems so, for in their
genetic code there is this relationship with God. And since they can’t deny this,
they make a special god: they themselves are god. They are corrupt.”
“This
is a danger for us, too,” he added. In the “Christian communities,” he said, the corrupt
think only of their own group: “Good, good. It’s about us - they think - but, in fact,
‘they are only out for themselves”:
“Judas[was the
first]: from a greedy sinner, he ended in corruption. The road
of autonomy is a dangerous road: the corruptare very forgetful,
have forgotten this love,with whichthe Lord madethe vineyard, has made them!They severed the relationship
withthis love! And theybecomeworshipersof themselves.How badarethe corruptin the Christian community! May the Lorddeliver
usfrom slidingdown this roadof corruption.”
The
Pope spoke also of the saints, remembering that today is the fiftieth anniversary
of the death of Bd Pope John XXIII, “a model of holiness.” In the day's Gospel, he
added, the saints are those who “go to collect the rent” on the vineyard. “They know
what is expected of them, but they must do it, and they do their duty”:
“The
saints are those who obey the Lord, those who worship the Lord, those who have not
lost the memory of the love with which the Lord has made the vineyard: the saints
in the Church. Just as the corrupt do so much harm to the Church, the saints do so
much good. The apostle John says of the corrupt that they are the antichrist, that
they are among us, but they are not of us. About the saints, the Word
of God tells us they are like light, ‘that they will be before the throne of God in
adoration.’ Today we ask the Lord for the grace to understand that we are sinners,
but truly sinners, not sinners broadly, but sinners with regard to this, that, and
the other thing, concrete sins, with the concreteness of sin. The grace to not become
corrupt: sinners, yes; corrupt, no! And the grace to walk in the paths
of holiness. So be it.”
Cardinal Angelo Amato, the head of the Congregation
for the Causes of Saints, concelebrated the Mass, which was attended by a group of
priests and collaborators from the Congregation, as well as a group of Gentlemen of
His Holiness.