Pope Francis at Santa Marta: It is a grace to have someone to slap us when we are slipping
Jan 31,2020
In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis reflected on King David’s sins. He said the same can happen to anyone. To avoid it, he said it is important not to fall into an overly permissive environment.
POPE FRANCIS
If a saint was capable of falling this way, let’s be attentive, brothers and sisters. It can also happen to us. Let us also ask ourselves, ‘In what environment do I live?’ May the Lord grant us the grace of always sending us a prophet—it can be the neighbor, a son, a mother, a father—who slaps us a little when we are slipping into this atmosphere where everything seems to be lawful.
The pope warned against the danger Christians face of losing an awareness of sin or of dismissing behavior that should be reprimanded.
EXTRACTS FROM POPE’S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican News)
Pope Francis wondered how the great David, who was holy, who had done so many good things and who was so united with God, could have done that. This did not happen overnight, the pope said, adding, David slipped slowly. He noted that there are sins of the moment, such as anger or insult that one cannot control, but there are also sins into which one slips slowly, with the spirit of worldliness. It’s the spirit of the world, the pope said, that leads you to do these things as if they were normal. “An assassination…!”
The pope admitted that all are sinners, but sometimes we sin on the spur of the moment, such as getting angry or insulting, but then we repent. Sometimes, instead, “we let ourselves slip into a state where life seems normal,” such as not paying the maid as you should or paying half what one should pay workers in the field.
The Holy Father said they seem to be good people who go to Mass every Sunday and who call themselves Christians. He explained they do all this and other sins because they have slipped into a state where they have lost the awareness of sin, which, according to Pope Pius XII, is one of the evils of our time.
The pope pointed out that these are not ancient things. He recalled a recent incident in Argentina in which some young rugby players killed a comrade in a nightlife fight. The boys, he said, became “a pack of wolves,” which raises questions about the education of young people and about society. The pope said, we often need a “slap of life” to stop this slow slide into sin. It takes someone like the prophet Nathan, sent by God to David, to show him his mistake.
Pope Francis urged Christians to think a little about the spiritual atmosphere of one’s life. “I am careful and always need someone to tell me the truth, the reproach of some friend, the confessor, the husband, the wife or children, who help me a little.” The story of the fall of a Holy King like David, the pope said, should make us realize that it can also happen to us and we should be careful.
We should also be aware of the atmosphere we live in. Pope Francis concluded urging that the Lord send us a prophet, such as a neighbor, a son, a mother or a father, who slaps us a little when we are slipping into this atmosphere where everything seems to be lawful.
Javier Romero
Translation: Claudia Torres
© Vatican Media
Pope at Santa Marta Mass: God Grant the Grace ‘To Send Us Always a Prophet’
So as Not to Lose Awareness of Sin
Pope Francis implored the Lord to “grant us the grace to send us always a prophet — who can be our neighbor, a child, mother, father — who will slap us a bit when we slide into this atmosphere where everything seems legitimate.”
In his homily during the Mass in Casa Santa Marta, the Holy Father reflected on the Second Book of Samuel, focused on the figure of “holy King David,” reported Vatican News.
Awareness of Sin
In this fragment, David, favoring a comfortable life, forgets that God chose him.
Then, Pope Francis referred to David’s sins: the census of the people and the story of Uriah, whom he had killed, after leaving Uriah’s wife Bathsheba pregnant. He chose murder because his plan, to arrange things after committing adultery, failed. David, the Pope said, “continued his normal life. Silence. His heart wasn’t moved.”
Spirit of Worldliness
“However, how could the great David, who was holy, who had done so many good things, who was united to God, do that? That’s not something that is done overnight. The great David slid slowly,” said the Pontiff.
“There are sins of the moment: the sin of anger, an insult that I can’t control. However, there are sins into which one slides slowly, with the spirit of worldliness. It’s the spirit of the world that leads one to do these things as if they were normal, even a murder . . . , he continued.
In this connection, the Bishop of Rome described how sin takes hold of man slowly, taking advantage of his comfort. “We are all sinners: “however, sometimes we sin in a moment. I get angry; I insult. Then I repent. On other occasions, however, we get carried away to a state of life that . . . seems normal.” And he gave an example of what can be conceived as normal: “not to pay a maid as she should be paid, or pay half of what is owed to farmworkers.
An Evil of Our Time
So Pope Francis pointed out that, despite the fact that some might seem to be “good persons,” “who go to Mass every Sunday, who call themselves Christians, commit grave sins because they have fallen “into a state in which they have lost the consciousness of sin. And that is an evil of our time. Pius XII spoke about losing the consciousness of sin.”
To show that this reality isn’t part of the past, the Holy Father referred to a recent incident in Argentina, in which some young rugby players killed a comrade in a fight after quite a night out. The kids that intervened in the event became “a pack of wolves,” he stressed
Listen to Others
The Holy Father underscored that “many times a slap in life” is necessary to stop, to halt the progressive sliding to sin, and that someone like Nathan is necessary whom God sent to show David his error.
“Let’s think a bit: What is my life’s spiritual atmosphere? Am I careful; do I always need someone to tell me the truth? I don’t think so? Do I listen to the reproach of a friend, confessor, husband, wife, children, which helps me a bit?” he asked.
And, finally, looking at David’s story — of the holy King David” — the Holy Father invited to question ourselves: “if a saint is capable of falling so, let’s be careful, brothers and sisters, it can also happen to us. Moreover, let’s ask ourselves: in what atmosphere do I live?”
Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/pope-at-santa-marta-mass-god-grant-the-grace-to-send-us-always-a-prophet/
Pope Francis: We must learn to grasp and appreciate value of old age
Jan 31,2020
The pope met with participants of the conference “The richness of many years of life,” which analyzes the challenges of old age and the pastoral care of the elderly. Pope Francis reminded them that the richness of old age is “a precious treasure that takes shape in the journey of every man and woman’s life.”
He said the aging of society in many countries should be a call “to serious reflection in order to learn to grasp and appreciate the value of the elderly.”
POPE FRANCIS
While, on the one hand, states need to face the new demographic situation on the economic level, on the other hand, civil society is in need of values and meaning for elderly people.
The pope reminded participants that “life is a gift, and when it is long, it is a privilege, for oneself and for others.”
POPE FRANCIS
Today I want to tell you that the elderly are also the present and future of the Church. Yes, they are also the future of a Church that, alongside the young, prophesies and dreams.
That’s why he asked them not to let themselves be discouraged by the challenges of old age. He also emphasized the importance of dialogue between the elderly and the youth.
Daniel Díaz Vizzi
Translation: Claudia Torres
© Vatican Media
Pope Francis Declares Elderly are Present and Future of the Church
Address to Conference: ‘The Richness of Many Years’
“When we think of the elderly and talk about them, especially in the pastoral dimension, we must learn to change the tenses of verbs a little,” according to Pope Francis. “There is not only the past, as if, for the elderly, there were only a life behind them and a moldy archive.
“No. The Lord can and wants to write with them also new pages, pages of holiness, of service, of prayer… Today I would like to tell you that the elderly are also the present and the future of the Church. Yes, they are also the future of a Church that, together with the young, prophesies and dreams! This is why it is so important that the elderly and the young speak to each other, it is so important.”
The Holy Father’s dramatic remarks on the importance of the elderly came on January 31, 2020, when he addressed in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the participants in the First International Congress on the pastoral care of the elderly on the theme “The richness of many years”, organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life, and taking place from January 29-31, 2020, at the “Augustinianum” Congress Centre in Rome.
“The ‘richness of many years’ is a richness of people, of each individual person who has many years of life, experience, and history behind them,” the Pope said. “It is the precious treasure that takes form in the journey of life of each man and woman, whatever their origins, provenance, and economic or social conditions. Life is a gift, and when it is long it is a privilege, for oneself and for others. Always, it is always this way.”
Pope Francis noted how the “population pyramid” has been inverted in recent decades. In the past, the number of children was large and the number of elderly few. Today, it is the opposite. He stressed the need for the pastoral care of the elderly but also suggested the important role the elderly can play in passing on the faith to new generations.
“God has a large population of grandparents throughout the world.,” Francis reminded listeners. “Nowadays, in secularized societies in many countries, current generations of parents do not have, for the most part, the Christian formation and living faith that grandparents can pass on to their grandchildren. They are the indispensable link in educating children and young people in the faith. We must get used to including them in our pastoral horizons and to considering them, in a non-episodic way, as one of the vital components of our communities. They are not only people whom we are called to assist and protect to guard their lives, but they can be actors in a pastoral evangelizing ministry, privileged witnesses of God’s faithful love.”
Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/pope-francis-declares-elderly-are-present-and-future-of-the-church/
The following is the Pope’s address to those present, provided by the Vatican:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I cordially welcome you, participants in the first International Congress on the pastoral care of the elderly, “The richness of many years”, organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, and I thank Cardinal Farrell for his kind words.
The “richness of many years” is a richness of people, of each individual person who has many years of life, experience, and history behind them. It is the precious treasure that takes form in the journey of life of each man and woman, whatever their origins, provenance, and economic or social conditions. Life is a gift, and when it is long it is a privilege, for oneself and for others. Always, it is always this way.
In the twenty-first century, old age has become one of the distinctive features of humanity. Over a period of just a few decades, the demographic pyramid – which once rested upon a large number of children and young people and had at the top just a few elderly people – has been inverted. If once the elderly could have populated a small state, nowadays they could populate an entire continent. In this regard, the enormous presence of the elderly constitutes a novelty for every social and geographic environment worldwide. In addition, different seasons of life correspond to old age: for many, it is the age in which productive efforts cease, strength declines and the signs of illness, the need for help, and social isolation appear; but for many, it is the beginning of a long period of psycho-physical well-being and freedom from work commitments.
In both situations, how can these years be lived? What meaning can be given to this phase of life, which for many people can be long? Social disorientation and, in many respects, the indifference and rejection that our societies manifest towards the elderly demand not only of the Church but of all of us, a serious reflection to learn to grasp and to appreciate the value of old age. Indeed, while on the one hand states must learn to face the new demographic situation on the economic level, on the other, civil society needs values and meaning for the third and fourth ages. And here, above all, is the contribution of the ecclesial community.
That is why I welcomed with interest the initiative of this conference, which focused attention on pastoral care for the elderly and initiated a reflection on the implications of a substantial presence of grandparents in our parishes and societies. I ask that this does not remain an isolated initiative, but that it instead marks the beginning of a journey of pastoral exploration and discernment. We need to change our pastoral habits in order to respond to the presence of so many older people in families and communities.
In the Bible, longevity is a blessing. It confronts us with our fragility, with our mutual dependence, with our family and community ties, and above all with our divine sonship. Granting old age, God the Father gives us time to deepen our knowledge of Him, our intimacy with Him, to enter ever more into His heart and surrender ourselves to Him. This is the time to prepare to deliver our spirit into His hands, definitively, with childlike trust. But it is also a time of renewed fruitfulness. “They will still bear fruit in old age,” says the psalmist (Ps 92:14). God’s plan of salvation, in fact, is also carried out in the poverty of weak, sterile and powerless bodies. From the barren womb of Sarah and the centenarian body of Abraham the Chosen People was born (cf. Rom 4:18-20). From Elizabeth and the old Zechariah, John the Baptist was born. The elderly person, even when he is weak, can become an instrument of salvation history.
Aware of this irreplaceable role of the elderly, the Church becomes a place where generations are called to share in God’s plan of love, in a relationship of mutual exchange of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This intergenerational sharing obliges us to change our gaze towards older people, to learn to look to the future together with them.
When we think of the elderly and talk about them, especially in the pastoral dimension, we must learn to change the tenses of verbs a little. There is not only the past, as if, for the elderly, there were only a life behind them and a moldy archive. No. The Lord can and wants to write with them also new pages, pages of holiness, of service, of prayer… Today I would like to tell you that the elderly are also the present and the future of the Church. Yes, they are also the future of a Church that, together with the young, prophesies and dreams! This is why it is so important that the elderly and the young speak to each other, it is so important.
The prophecy of the elderly is fulfilled when the light of the Gospel enters fully into their lives; when, like Simeon and Anne, they take Jesus in their arms and announce the revolution of tenderness, the Good News of He Who came into the world to bring the light of the Father. That is why I ask you not to spare yourselves in proclaiming the Gospel to grandparents and elders. Go to them with a smile on your face and the Gospel in your hands. Go out into the streets of your parishes and seek out the elderly who live alone. Old age is not an illness, it is a privilege! Loneliness can be an illness, but with charity, closeness and spiritual comfort we can heal it.
God has a large population of grandparents throughout the world. Nowadays, in secularized societies in many countries, current generations of parents do not have, for the most part, the Christian formation and living faith that grandparents can pass on to their grandchildren. They are the indispensable link in educating children and young people in the faith. We must get used to including them in our pastoral horizons and to considering them, in a non-episodic way, as one of the vital components of our communities. They are not only people whom we are called to assist and protect to guard their lives, but they can be actors in a pastoral evangelizing ministry, privileged witnesses of God’s faithful love.
For this I thank you all who dedicate your pastoral energies to grandparents and the elderly. I know well that your commitment and your reflection are born of concrete friendship with many elderly people. I hope that what is today the sensitivity of the few will become the patrimony of every ecclesial community. Do not be afraid, take initiatives, help your bishops and your dioceses to promote pastoral service to and with older people. Do not be discouraged, keep going! The Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life will continue to accompany you in this task.
I too accompany you with my prayer and my blessing. And please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you!