SUNDAY ANGELUS
Sept. 30, 2012
In the Holy Father's last Angelus for the summer at Castel Gandolfo, he commented on today's Gospel in which Jesus allows a man to cast out demons in his name, saying Christians should always welcome it
when someone not in the Church does something goo ad.
Commenting on a passage from the Letter of James, he said Jesus taught there was nothing wrong in having wealth if such wealth is used to help others.
In English, he said:
I welcome the English-speaking pilgrims here at Castel Gandolfo and in Rome! Dear friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus calls us to be not only open-hearted, but also firm in our opposition to what is dishonest or evil. May God grant us to be both generous to others and steadfast in living a life of purity and integrity. Upon you and your loved ones, I invoke the strength and peace of Christ our Lord!
After the prayers, the Pope made an appeal for an end to violence in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where in the past 2 weeks, a flare-up of intermittent fighting between a rebel group and irregular militia forces has forced thousands to flee their homes.
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words today:
Dear brothers and sisters,
The Gospel this Sunday presents one of those episodes in the life of Christ which, although caught, so to speak, in passing, contain a profound significance (cfr Mk 9,38-41).
It has to do with someone, who was not among Jesus's followers, who had chased out demons in his name. The apostle John, young and zealous as he was, had wanted to prevent the man from doing so, but Jesus did not allow him.
Rather, he took the occasion to teach his disciples that God can perform good and even miraculous things outside their own circle, that one can collaborate with the Kingdom of God in diverse ways, even by offering a glass of water to a missionary (v. 41).
St. Augustine wrote in this regard: "Just as in the Catholic Church, one can find those who are not catholic, outside the Church, there can be something that is Catholic" (Augustine, On baptism, against the Donatists: PL 43, VII, 39, 77).
That is why members of the Church should not feel jealous but rejoice when someone outside the community does good in the name of Christ, if he does it with the right intention and with respect.
Even within the Church itself, it can happen at times that it costs effort to value and appreciate, in a spirit of profound communion, the good things done by various ecclesial entities. Rather, we should all be always capable of appreciating and esteeming each other, praising the Lord for the infinite 'imagination' in which he operates in the Church and the world.
Today's liturgy also resounds with the invective of the apostle James against dishonest rich men who place their security in the wealth they have accumulated through abuses (cfr Jm 5,1-6).
In this respect, Cesarius of Arles said in a discourse: "Wealth cannot do harm to a good man because he gives of his riches with mercy, in the same way that wealth cannot help a bad man for as long as he keeps it greedily or wastes it in dissipation" (Sermons 35, 4).
The words of the apostle James, while they warn against vain greed for material things, also constitute a strong call to use these things in the perspective of solidarity and the common good. always working with equity and morality at all levels.
Dear friends, through the intercession of the Most Blessed Mary, let us pray so that we may know how to avail of every gesture and initiative for good, without envy or jealousy, and to use earthly goods in the continuous search for eternal good.
After the prayers, he said this:
I have been following with affection and concern what has been happening to the people of the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been the object of attention these days at high-level meetings in the United Nations.
I am particularly close to the refugees, the women and children, who have been suffering from violence and profound distress because of persistent armed encounters in the region.
I call on God that peaceful ways of dialog, as we[[ as protection of so many innocent people, may be found; that peace based on justice may soon return; and that fraternal coexistence may be renewed among a population that has been so sorely tested, and in the entire region.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/10/2012 19:44]