Vatican City: Pope Francis’ message on three issues that divide society and the Church. Pope Francis said in a message in the Santa Marta Chapel amid the Holy Mass today that money, boasting and blasphemy are divisions of society and church. There are many things that divide a society. It could be the Christian community in the parish, the diocese, or the clergy-monastic community. A lot of things that divide the society are coming up. I find three.
Money first. St. James and Paul. St. Paul says that the rich bring food. They eat and keep the poor hungry. You put them there, just as you say you want to do your thing. The love of money divides society and the church. In church history, there have been many missteps of preaching – not always, but many times.
Behind it was finance. Wealth is power, be it political or currency. Money divides society. Because of this, poverty is the birthplace of society, poverty is the wall that protects society. Money creates segregation, the person creates interests. How many families have been divided over property rights? Money divides. The second factor that divides society is boasting.
‘I thank you because I am not like the others’ was Pharisee’s prayer. In my habits, dressing up and displaying myself in a way that I thought I was. Even the rituals of the sacraments become examples of arrogance. People who dress up in festive attire, do many things, and have big celebrations. Proud and divisive. The third factor that divides society is the backing of the pope. I’m not saying this for the first time, but it’s true.
It is the devil causing us to feel bad about others. But the Spirit comes with his power to save us from the mundaneness of that money, boasting and scandal. Because the soul is not worldly, it is the opposite. He is capable of doing great things. At the end of the Pope’s message, we can pray to the Lord for the blessing of the Holy Spirit to transform us, our communities, our parish, the diocese and the monastic communities.
