True progress is in trusting the Spirit: Pope

(June 12, 2013) Pope Francis on Wednesday warned the Church against falling into the temptations of both going back and of making immature progress, reminding all that true progress comes from the freedom given by the Holy Spirit. The Pope said this in his morning Mass at the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. Brazilian Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life concelebrated with the Pope, while employees of the Congregation attended the Mass.
Basing his homily on Jesus’ words in the Gospel of the day, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets", the Pope said Jesus is the expression of the maturity of the law - the law of the Spirit. Moving forward on this road is somewhat risky, but it is the only road to maturity, to leave behind the times in which we are not mature, the pope explained. This, he said involves a fear of confusing the freedom of the Spirit with human freedom, which offers two temptations. Either we want to play it safe and stop or go backwards, or we rashly forge ahead in what the pope called “adolescent progressivism” which consists in taking bits from the current culture and making it into a law. The Pope warned this is not true progress and will derail us. Real progress comes in trusting in the Holy Spirit the Pope added.