October 21, 2013. (Romereports.com) Pope Francis focused his homily at Casa Santa Marta on greed, which destroys people as well as families, he said. The Pope added that money can bring about many good things, but only when people are not attached to it.
POPE FRANCIS
“That’s what does harm: greed in my relationship with money. Having more, having more, having more… It leads you to idolatry, it destroys your relationship with others. It’s not money, but the attitude, what we call greed.”
The Pope went on to say that choosing poverty for poverty’s sake is no good either. Poverty is only good, he concluded, as an instrument to worship only God, instead of “golden idols.”
EXCERPT FROM THE POPE’S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
“This is a day-to-day problem. How many families have we seen destroyed by the problem of money? Brother against brother, father against son. This is the first result that this attitude of being attached to money does: it destroys! When a person is attached to money, he destroys himself, he destroys the family. Money destroys! It does, doesn’t it? It binds you. Money serves to bring about many good things, so many works for human development, but when your heart is attached in this way, it destroys you.”
“That’s what does harm: greed in my relationship with money. Having more, having more, having more… It leads you to idolatry, it destroys your relationship with others. It’s not money, but the attitude, what we call greed. Then too this greed makes you sick, because it makes you think of everything in terms of money. It destroys you, it makes you sick. And in the end – this is the most important thing – greed is an instrument of idolatry because it goes along a way contrary to what God has done for us. Saint Paul tells us that Jesus Christ, who was rich, made Himself poor to enrich us. That is the path of God: humility, to lower oneself in order to serve. Greed, on the other hand, takes us on a contrary path: You, who are a poor human, make yourself God for vanity’s sake. It is idolatry!”
“The Lord teaches us which is the path: not the path of poverty for poverty’s sake. No! It is the way of poverty as an instrument, so that God may be God, so that He will be the only Lord! Not the golden idols! And all the goods that we have, the Lord gives them to us to advance the world, to advance humanity, to help, to help others. Today may the Word of the Lord remain in our hearts: “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
(Romereports.com)