miniZibaldone

W hereas 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...

From the homily [W]e need to discern if we follow the spirit of God.  And this is the daily rule of life that John teaches us."  Pope Francis went on to warn against worldliness. [...] "The criterion is the Incarnation. I can feel so many things inside, even good things, good ideas. But if these good ideas, these feelings, do not lead to God who became flesh, do not lead me to my neighbour, my brother, then they are not from God. For this reason, John begins this passage of his letter by saying: 'This is God's commandment that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another.'" [...] We can, the Pope continued, have "many pastoral plans", imagine new "methods to get closer to the people", but "if we do not follow the path of God who became flesh, the path of the Son of God who became man to walk with us, we are not on the path of the good spirit: it is the Antichrist, it is worldliness, it is the spirit ...

From the homily The people of God celebrated, they rejoiced because they had rekindled “their true identity”. The Pope explained that “those who indulge in worldliness do not know how to celebrate – they can’t celebrate! At most, the worldly spirit can provide amusement, it can provoke excitement, but true joy can only come from faith in the Covenant”. [...] “The Gospel says the chief priests and scribes had changed things. They had dishonored and compromised the Temple. They had dishonored the Temple! The Temple was a symbol of the Church. The Church will always – always! – be subject to the temptation of worldliness and power. Jesus did not say ‘No, do not do this inside. Go outside instead.’ He said ‘You have made it a den of thieves!’ And when the Church enters into such a state of decline, the end is bad. Very bad indeed.” [...] And where Jesus is, there is no room for worldliness. There is no room for corruption! This is a challenge for each and every one of us; this is ...

From a homily Worldliness, apostasy, persecution. Worldliness in life is to do what the world does. It’s saying: "We put up for auction our identity card; we are equal to everyone. " Thus, many Jews disowned the faith and fell away from the Holy Alliance. And what seemed so rational- 'we are like everyone else, we are normal' - became their destruction. Then the king recommended that his whole kingdom should be one people - the one thought; worldliness - and each abandoned their own customs… That is, worldliness that leads you to one unique thought, and to apostasy. No differences are permitted: all are equal. And in the history of the Church, the history we have seen, I think of a case, where religious feasts were renamed - the birth of the Lord has another name – in order to erase its identity… This is the deception of worldliness, and why Jesus asked the Father, at that Supper: 'Father, I do not ask you to remove them from the world, but keep them from the ...