During his Thursday morning Mass, Pope Francis talked about vanity. He explained why it's critical for Christians to not give into this temptation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
POPE FRANCIS
\n'How many Christians live for appearances? Their life seems like soap bubbles. The soap bubble is beautiful, with all its colors! But it lasts only a second, and then what? Vanity is a liar, a fantasist, it deceives itself and it deceives the vain, because in the beginning they pretend to be something they're not and ultimately the vain believe it. They actually believe it. Poor thing!\u00e2?\u009d<\/p>\n
The Pope also added that when a Christian does penance, it must be done with joy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
SUMMARY OF POPE'S HOMILY:\u00a0
\n(Source: Vatican Radio)\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you 'do not have something substantial, you too will pass like all things.\u00e2?\u009d Pope Francis took his cue from the Book of Ecclesiastes to dwell on vanity. Vanity is a temptation not only for the pagans but also for Christians, for 'people of faith.\u00e2?\u009d Jesus, he noted, often rebuked those who boasted. He told the teachers of the law that they should not 'walk down the streets\u00e2?\u009d with 'luxurious outfits,\u00e2?\u009d like 'princes.\u00e2?\u009d When you pray, the Lord warned, do not do it to be seen, do not pray so that people will see you; 'pray in secret, go to your room.\u00e2?\u009d You should do the same, the Pope said, when you help the poor: 'Don\u00e2??t sound the trumpet, do it secretly. The Father sees it, and that is enough.\u00e2?\u009d<\/p>\n
'But the vain man [says]: \u00e2??Look, I\u00e2??m giving this check for the work of the Church\u00e2?? and he shows the check; then he scams the Church from the other direction. But this is what makes the vain man: he lives for appearances. \u00e2??When you fast,\u00e2?? the Lord says to this, \u00e2??please do not be melancholy, sad, so that everyone will notice that you\u00e2??re fasting. No, fast with joy; do penance with joy, so that no one will notice.\u00e2?? This is vanity: it is living for appearances, living to be seen.\u00e2?\u009d<\/p>\n
'Christians who live that way\u00e2?\u009d, he continued, 'for appearances, for vanity, seem like peacocks, they strut about like peacocks.\u00e2?\u009d They are the people who say, 'I am a Christian, I am to that priest, to that sister, to that bishop; my family is a Christian family.\u00e2?\u009d They boast. But, the Pope asked, 'what about your life with the Lord? How do you pray? Your life in the works of mercy, how\u00e2??s that going? Do you visit the sick? Reality.\u00e2?\u009d This, he added, is why 'Jesus tells us we must build our house \u00e2?? that is, our Christian life \u00e2?? on the rock, on the truth.\u00e2?\u009d On the other hand, Jesus warned that 'the vain build their house on sand, and that house falls, that Christian life falls, slips, because it is not able to resist temptations.\u00e2?\u009d<\/p>\n
'How many Christians live for appearances? Their life seems like a soap bubble. The soap bubble is beautiful, with all its colours! But it lasts only a second, and then what? Even when we look at some funeral monuments, we feel it\u00e2??s vanity, because the truth is returning to the bare earth, as the Servant of God Paul VI said. The bare earth awaits us, this is our final truth. In the meantime, do I boast or do I do something? Do I do good? Do I seek God? Do I pray? Substantial things. And vanity is a liar, a fantasist, it deceives itself, it deceives the vain, because in the beginning he pretends to be [something], but in the end he really believes himself to be that, he believes. He believes it. Poor thing!\u00e2?\u009d<\/p>\n
'And this\u00e2?\u009d, he emphasized, 'is what happened to the Tetrarch Herod who, as the day\u00e2??s Gospel relates, asked anxiously about the identity of Jesus.\u00e2?\u009d 'Vanity,\u00e2?\u009d the Pope said, 'sows wicked anxiety, takes away peace. It\u00e2??s like those who put on too much make-up, and then are afraid the rain\u00e2?\u009d will come 'and all that make-up will come streaming down.\u00e2?\u009d Vanity does not give us peace, he repeated. 'Only the truth gives us peace.\u00e2?\u009d Pope Francis said Jesus is the unique rock on which we can build our life. 'And we consider that this proposal of the devil, of the demon, also tempted Jesus to vanity in the desert,\u00e2?\u009d saying to Him: 'Come with me, let us go up to the temple, let us make a spectacle. Throw yourself down and everyone will believe in you.\u00e2?\u009d The demon presented to Jesus 'vanity on a platter.\u00e2?\u009d Vanity, the Pope said, 'is a particularly grave spiritual illness.\u00e2?\u009d<\/p>\n
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\n\tUp: YJA\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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