Serve the Word of God, not the idolatry of riches: Pope Francis

Vatican City, 22 June 2013: The riches and the cares of the world ‘choke the Word of God’, said Pope Francis at Mass on Saturday morning at the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican. The Pope pointed out that our life is set on three pillars: election, covenant, and promise, adding that we must trust the Father in living in the present without worrying about what will happen. The Pope concelebrated Mass with Bishop Arturo González of Santa Clara in Cuba and others. Employees of the Vatican Museums were in attendance at the liturgy.

Pope Francis began his reflection on focusing on the day’s gospel which centers on the theme of riches and cares, and where Jesus, says “No one can serve two masters.” The riches and cares of the world that choke the Word of God, are the thorns spoken of in the Parable of the Sower, explained the Pontiff. The Pope emphasized that our life is founded on three pillars: the past, the present and the future. The pillar of the past, he explained, “is that of the election of the Lord.” Every one of us can say “the Lord has chosen me, has loved me,” “He has said to me ‘come’,” and with Baptism “he has chosen me to go along a road, the Christian road.” The future, on the other hand, concerns “walking towards a promise”, the Lord “has made us a promise.” Finally, the present “is our response to the God Who is so good that He has chosen me.” The Pope said, “He makes a promise, he proposes a covenant with me, and I make a covenant with Him.”

The three pillars of salvation are “election, covenant, and promise”. But when our heart enters into what Jesus explains to us, it takes away time: it takes away the past, it takes away the future, and one is confused in the present. For one who is attached to riches, neither the past nor the future is important; he has everything here. Wealth is an idol. I don’t need a past, a promise, an election: nothing. He who is worried about what will happen, takes away his relation with the future – “but can one do this?” – and the future becomes futuristic, but no, it doesn’t direct you to any promise: you remain confused, you remain alone.”

Riches and cares, Pope Francis warned, are the two things “that make us forget our past,” that make us live as if we didn’t have a Father. And even our present is a present that doesn’t work”. “Forgetting the past, not accepting the present, disfigure the future: that’s what riches and cares do. The Lord tells us: “But be calm! Seek the Kingdom of God, and everything else will come.’ Let us ask the Lord for the grace not to fool ourselves with worries, with the idolatry of riches, and to always remember that we have a Father Who has chosen us; to remember that this Father promises us a good thing, which is walking towards that promise; and having courage to take the present as it comes. Let us ask this grace from the Lord.”
Source: VR Sedoc