Pope: With those who only seek scandal and division, the answer is silence
Francis resumed the celebration of Mass in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta. The attitude of Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth teaches us that "truth is meek, the truth is silent, the truth is not noisy. What Jesus did was not easy; but the dignity of Christians is anchored in God’s power.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis on Monday resumed the celebration of daily Mass at Casa Santa Marta, noting that "With people who only seek scandal, who only seek division", the answer is "silence" and "prayer".
During his homily, the pontiff commented on the Gospel of the day (Luke 4:16-30) in which arouses curiosity when he returns to Nazareth and visits the synagogue but then is chased away. Everyone wanted to see the great deeds that he had performed elsewhere, but Jesus used only "the Word of God", a practice that he also used when "he wanted to defeat the Devil".
It is precisely this attitude of humility that leads to a change of atmosphere, "from peace to war", from “amazement to fury". With "his silence" Jesus defeated the "wild dogs", he defeated "the devil" who "had sown lies in the heart".
"They were not people, they were a pack of wild dogs who drove him out of the city. They were not thinking, they were shouting. Jesus stayed silent. They took him to the edge of the mountain to throw him over. This Gospel passage ends with: 'But he passed through the midst of them and went away’.”
“The dignity of Jesus: with his silence he defeated the wild pack and went away. Because the hour had not yet come. The same will happen on Good Friday: the people who celebrated Jesus on Palm Sunday and told him 'Blessed are You, Son of David', were saying ‘crucify him’: they had changed. The devil had sown lies in their heart, and Jesus was silent."
"This,” Francis said, “teaches us that when there is this way of doing things, of not seeing the truth, what is left is silence."
"Silence defeats but through the Cross. The silence of Jesus. How many times discussions begin in families about politics, sport, money and sooner or later, those families end up destroyed, in discussions in which we see the devil who wants to destroy ... Silence. Say what you think and then keep quiet. Because truth is meek, the truth is silent, the truth is not noisy.
“What Jesus did was not easy; but the dignity of Christians is anchored in God’s power. With people who are not of good will, with people who only seek scandal, who only seek division, who only seek destruction, even in families: silence. And prayer."
Pope Francis ended saying, “May the Lord give us the grace to discern when we should speak and when we should stay silent. This applies to every part of life: work, home, society . . . life as a whole. Thus, we shall be more imitators of Jesus.”
.png)
06/09/2020 14:07
