"Shun the worship of modern idols and hope in the promises of Christ".
Boy, do we need to heed this message in today's world. We see how the idol of money is creating havoc in our economy, greed and self interest the culprits in the banking collapse.
Pope: Shun the worship of modern idols and hope in the promises of Christ
Over 200,000 people gathered at the square surrounding the Les Invalides complex in Paris this morning for Mass with the Pope. In his homily the Holy Father urged his listeners to “shun the worship of idols,” including the idea that man can bring “about the kingdom of eternal joy on earth.”
"In the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians," Benedict XVI said, "we discover ... how much the counsels given by the Apostle remain important today. 'Shun the worship of idols,' he writes to a community deeply marked by paganism and divided between adherence to the newness of the Gospel and the observance of former practices inherited from its ancestors.”
"This appeal to shun idols," he added, "is also pertinent today. ... The word 'idol' comes from the Greek and means 'image,' 'figure,' 'representation,' but also 'ghost,' 'phantom,' 'vain appearance.' An idol is a delusion, for it turns its worshipper away from reality and places him in the kingdom of mere appearances."
"Now," the Pope asked, "is this not a temptation in our own day - the only one we can act upon effectively? The temptation to idolize a past that no longer exists, forgetting its shortcomings; the temptation to idolize a future which does not yet exist, in the belief that, by his efforts alone, man can bring about the kingdom of eternal joy on earth!" In the same way, "have not money, the thirst for possessions, for power and even for knowledge, diverted man from his true destiny?"
MORE
No comments:
Post a Comment