Pope: "Dictatorship of thought" suppresses "freedom of conscience, people’s relationship with God"
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Today, as in the days of the Pharisees - the bearers of a "closed mind", "not open to dialogue" - there is a "dictatorship of thought", "if you do not think so, you are not modern" which "ready to stone the freedom of the people, their freedom of conscience, people's relationship with God", said Pope Francis this morning during Mass celebrated in the Casa Santa Marta, explaining the Pharisees' closure to the novelty of Jesus' message.
The Pope, Vatican Radio reports, pointed out their mistake was to "detach
the commandments from the heart of God". They thought it enough to
merely keep the commandments, but these - the Pope said - "are not just a
cold law", because they are born from a relationship of love and are
"indications" that help us avoid mistakes in our journey to meet
Jesus. So, the Pharisees who close their hearts and minds "to all things
new," do not understand "the path of hope". "This is the
drama of the closed heart, the drama of the closed mind - the Pope said - and
when the heart is closed, this heart closes the mind , and when the heart and
mind are closed there is no place for God", but only for what we believe
should be done.
Instead, "the commandments carry a promise and the prophets wake this
promise up". How many have closed heart and mind, how many cannot accept
the "new message" brought by Jesus, "which is what was promised
by the faithfulness of God and the prophets. But they do not understand". "It is a closed way of thinking that is not open to dialogue, to the
possibility that there is something else, the possibility that God speaks to
us, tells us about His journey, as he did to the prophets. These people did not
listen to the prophets and did not listen to Jesus. It is something greater
than a mere stubbornness. No, it is more: it is the idolatry of their own way
of thinking. 'I think this, it has to be this way, and nothing more'. These
people had a narrow line of thought and wanted to impose this way of thinking
on the people of God, Jesus rebukes them for this: ' You burden the people with
many commandments and you do not touch them with your finger'".
Jesus' "rebukes their incoherence". "The theology of these people -
the Pope notes - becomes a slave to this pattern, this pattern of thought: a
narrow line of thought". "There is no possibility of dialogue, there is no possibility to open up
to new things which God brings with the prophets. They killed the prophets,
these people; they close the door to the promise of God. When this phenomenon
of narrow thinking enters human history, how many misfortunes. We all saw in
the last century, the dictatorships of narrow thought , which ended up killing
a lot of people, but when they believed they were the overlords, no other form
of though was allowed. This is the way they think".
"Even today - the Pope said - there is the idolatry of a narrow line of
thought". "Today we have to think in this way and if you do not think in this way,
you are not modern, you're not open or worse. Often rulers say : 'I have asked
for aid, financial support for this' , ' But if you want this help, you have to
think in this way and you have to pass this law, and this other law and this
other law...' Even today there is a dictatorship of a narrow line of thought and
this dictatorship is the same as these people: it takes up stones to stone the
freedom of the people, the freedom of the people, their freedom of conscience,
the relationship of the people with God. Today Jesus is Crucified once again".
The Lord's exhortation "faced with this dictatorship - said the Pope - is
always the same: be vigilant and pray; do not be silly , do not buy"
things "you do not need, be humble and pray, that the Lord always gives us
the freedom of an open heart, to receive his Word which is joy and promise and
covenant! And with this covenant move forward!"
.png)
17/05/2020 12:35
16/05/2020 12:38
02/05/2020 14:24
01/05/2020 17:00
