Following his summer break, pilgrims were eager to meet with the pope once again at the General Audience, and vice versa. The Holy Father gave out greetings, especially to the little ones, he received gifts and drank the mate offered by these pilgrims.
Pope Francis continued his catechesis series on the Commandments, reflecting on the First, from the book of Exodus: “You shall have no other gods before me.” The pope explained the temptation of idolatry, which he said affects both believers and non-believers.
POPE FRANCIS
“For example, us Christians can ask ourselves, 'Who is my true God? Is it love, One and Trinity, or is it my image or my personal success, perhaps within the Church?'”
The pope said people today keep a real “supermarket” of idols, one of them a concrete temptation that he warned against.
POPE FRANCIS
'I ask you all, how many of you have gone to be told the future? How many of you, for example, have gone to have your hand read to see the future instead of praying to the Lord?”
The Holy Father mentioned other similar idols, such as beauty, fame or money, that promise happiness, but actually take one's own life.
POPE FRANCIS
“Idols promise life, but actually take it away. The true God doesn't ask for a life, but gives it. The true God doesn't offer a projection of our success, but shows us to love. The true God doesn't ask of His children, but gives us His Son.”
Thus, Pope Francis urged each pilgrim to recognize his or her own idol in order to be freed from it.
POPE FRANCIS
“Carry this in your hearts. Idols take away our love. Idols make us blind to love. To truly love, one must be free from any idol. What is my idol? Rid yourself of it and throw it out the window.”
To conclude, the pope reminded that idols keep us from appreciating the present, because they only create illusions of the future, while God teaches to live daily.
