Pope: selfishness, rivalry and vainglory destroy community and create conflicts

"When we read the news of wars, we think of the news of the hunger of children in Yemen, the result of war: it is far, poor children ... but why do not they have [enough] to eat? But the same war is made at home, in our institutions with this rivalry: start there, the war! And peace must be made there: in the family, in the parish, in the institutions, in the workplace, always seeking unanimity and harmony and not one's own interest ".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Selfishness, rivalry and vainglory are at the origin of rivalries and conflicts, because they destroy unanimity and harmony that are the basis of coexistence according to the teaching of Jesus, said Pope Francis at Mass at Casa Santa Marta this morning, inspired by the passage of the Gospel (Lk 14: 12-14) in which Jesus exhorts the head of the Pharisees not to seek "something in exchange" for his actions.

The Pope explained that Jesus’ teaching is clear: “do not do things out of [self-]interest”, do not choose your friendships on the basis of convenience.

He said that reasoning on the basis of one's own “advantage” is a “form of selfishness, segregation and self-interest” whilst Jesus’ message “is exactly the opposite.” And referring to the first reading in which St. Paul speaks to the Philippians, he urged the faithful to “do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory” “Do not do things out of interest”, do not reason only on the basis of your own “advantage” and be selective in your friendships. This is “a form of selfishness, of segregation and of interest”, the Pontiff explains. Quite the opposite of what is instead the “message of Jesus” which is “gratuitousness”, “universality”, which “broadens life” and “lengthens the horizon”.  He therefore warned against the two dangers to unity: “Rivalry and vainglory “Rivalry is ugly: you can perpetrate it openly, in a direct way, or with white gloves. But it always aims to destroy the other and to ‘raise oneself up’ by diminishing the other.” Rivalry, he said, stems from self- interest.

Equally harmful, the Pope continued, is someone who prides himself on being superior to others. This attitude, he said, destroys communities and families: “Think of the rivalry between siblings for the father’s inheritance for example”, it is something we see every day.

Christians, Pope Francis said, must follow the example of the Son of God, cultivating “gratuitousness”: doing good without expecting or wanting to be repaid, sowing unity and abandoning “rivalry or vainglory”. “Building peace with small gestures paves a path of harmony throughout the world” he said.When we read of wars, he concluded, of the famine of children in Yemen caused by the conflict there, we think “that’s far away, poor children… why don't they have food?”

“The same war is waged at home and in our institutions” he warned, “stemming from rivalry: that’s where war begins! And that’s where peace must be made: in the family, in the parish, in the institutions, in the workplace, always seeking unanimity and harmony and not one's own interest.”