Here and Now with Francis 5/18/16 (Christ, desire, following, service, worldliness, pride)


Whereas Jesus was warning his disciples about his coming humiliation and death, they [apostles] were concerned with worldly matters such as who would become the most powerful among them.

From the homily
Pope Francis reminded of Jesus' warning to his disciples that "if anyone wishes to be first he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." “Along the path where Jesus shows us to journey, the guiding principle is service. The greatest is the person who serves most, who serves others most, not the person who boasts, who seeks power, money… vanity, pride. No, these people are not the greatest. And this is what happened here with the apostles, even with the mother of John and James, it’s an event that happens every day in the Church, in every community. ‘But which of us is the greatest? Who’s in charge?’ Ambitions: there is always this desire to be a social climber, to have power, in every community, parish or institution.” [...] “Vanity and power …  and how and when I have this worldly desire to seek power, not to serve but to be served and spare no efforts to get there: gossiping, speaking ill of others… Envy and jealousy create this path and they both destroy.  And we all know this.  This occurs in every institution of the Church: parishes, colleges, other institutions, even in the dioceses … everywhere. There’s this desire for worldliness and this is all about wealth, vanity and pride.” [link]

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