"The Word of God was rare in those scandals, in men and in women the Word of God was rare! They did not have a relationship with God! They had a position in the Church, a position of power, even of comfort. But the Word God, no!"

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The scandals "shame of Church," they are the "defeat of priests, bishops, laity," and arose where the Word of God was "rare", where there was no "relationship with God." These were Pope Francis words during Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta.

The Pope, reports Vatican Radio, was commenting on the reading and responsorial Psalm, which tell of the Israelites' crushing defeat at the hands of the Philistines, the Pope notes that at the time the people of God had forsaken the Lord. It was said that the Word of God was "rare" in that time. The old priest Eli was "lukewarm" and his sons "corrupt, they frightened the people and beat them with sticks". The Israelites used the Ark of the Covenant to fight the Philistines, but as if it were something "magical", "something external". And they are defeated: the Ark is taken by their enemies. There is no true faith in God, in His real presence in life:

"This passage of Scripture makes us think about our relationship with God, with the Word of God: is it a formal relationship ? It is a distant relationship? Does the Word of God enter into our hearts, change our hearts, does it have this power or not, is it a formal relationship, where all is well? But the heart is closed to the Word! It leads us to think of the many defeats of the Church, so many defeats of God's people simply because they do not listen to the Lord, they do not seek the Lord, they don't allow the Lord to seek them! And then after the tragedy - prayer, this one: ' But, Lord, what happened? You have made ​​us the scorn of our neighbors. The scorn and derision of those around us. You have rendered us a fable among the nations! Peoples shake their heads at us".

The Pope's thoughts then turned to the scandals of the Church: "But are we ashamed? So many scandals that I do not want to mention them individually, but we all know about them ... We know where they are! Scandals, some of which cost a lot of money: that's only right! This is how it must be done .... The shame of the Church! But are we really all ashamed of those scandals, of those defeats of priests, bishops, laity? The Word of God was rare in those scandals, the Word of God was rare in men and in women! They did not have a relationship with God ! They had a position in the Church, a position of power, of comfort even. But the Word of God, no! ' But, I wear a medal ' , ' I carry  the Cross ' ... Yes, like these bore the Ark ! Without a living relationship with God and the Word of God! I am reminded of the words of Jesus that caused scandal ... And here the scandal came: the decadence of the entire people of God, to the point of the weakness and corruption of the priests".

Pope Francis concluded his homily turning his thoughts to the people of God: "Poor people! Poor people! We do not give them the bread of life to eat,  we do notfeed them - in those cases - the truth! And often, we even feed them poisoned meals! 'Awake, why do you sleep Lord'. Let this be our prayer! 'Awake ! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? ' . We ask the Lord that we never forget the Word of God, which is alive, that it enters into our hearts and that we never forget the holy faithful people of God who asks us for a hearty meal".

 

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