On human beings, their nature and virtuesHaving a "mind 10": the sum of virtues, peace and joyOn Wednesday, December 27, Pope Francis began a new cycle of catecheses on the vices and virtues.
In the Audience The Holy Father made some introductory remarks on the "custody of the heart", and in his catechesis to the pilgrims of different languages and of Italy itself, he made several references to the "custody of the heart". birth of the Savior, Prince of Peace, to the Holy Family, and to its Christmas message.
For example, in his words to the Spanish-speaking people, he referred to the request for help from St. Joseph: "In these days of Christmas, let us ask the intercession of St. Joseph, custodian of Jesus and Mary, so that he may teach us to take care of our hearts and to be attentive to everything that could take us away from the Lord. May God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin watch over you".
Thanks to the Polish people
In Italian, before giving the final blessing, he again asked for prayers for the peoples at war: "May the Child of Bethlehem give his light to all of you, so that you may inspire your daily actions in the New Year with the Gospel. And let us not forget to pray for all those who suffer the terrible consequences of violence and war, especially for the tormented Ukraine and for the peoples of Palestine and Israel".
Greeting the Poles, he referred to the support for the Ukrainian victims: "I cordially greet the Poles. At the end of the year, we give thanks to God for all the
good things we have received, including those realized by the hands of so many people in support of the victims of war in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world. We pray with confidence that the Prince of Peace will grant us hope, love and true peace. From my heart I bless you and your homeland".
New cycle of catechesis: vices and virtues
In his summary of Wednesday's catechesis, the Pontiff emphasized that, as a starting point, "we situate ourselves in the Book of Genesis, where the dynamics of evil and temptation are presented in various ways".
"In the story of Adam and Eve, for example, we see how God wants to preserve humanity from the presumption of omnipotence, of wanting to be like gods. Instead, they succumb to temptation, they do not recognize their own limits, pride enters their hearts and they break the harmony with God, being evil itself their punishment."
"With these stories, the Bible teaches us," the Pope emphasized, "that we must not stop to dialogue with the devil, thinking that we will be able to defeat him. He often acts under the guise of good. For this reason, in our Christian life it is fundamental to discern whether our thoughts and desires come from God or, on the contrary, from his adversary. In order to do this, we must always remain vigilant, guarding one's own heart".
In his reflection, in a broader way, the Pope had stated: "In the idyllic picture that represents the Garden of Eden, there appears a character that becomes the symbol of temptation: the serpent. The serpent is an insidious animal: it moves slowly, slithering along the ground, and sometimes its presence is not even noticed, because it manages to blend in well with its surroundings. That is the main reason why it is dangerous.
"As we know, Adam and Eve were unable to resist the temptation of the serpent. The idea of a not-so-good God, who wanted to keep them in submission, crept into their minds: hence the collapse of everything. Soon the progenitors realized that, just as love is reward in itself, evil is also punishment in itself. They will not need God's punishments to realize that they have done wrong: it will be their own actions that will destroy the world of harmony in which they had lived until then. They thought they resembled the gods, and instead they realize that they are naked, and that they are also so afraid: because when pride has penetrated the heart, then no one can protect himself from the only earthly creature capable of conceiving evil, that is, man", the Pope continued.
"Evil does not begin in a crash," but "much earlier."
"With these stories, the Bible explains to us that evil does not begin in man in a resounding way, when an act has already manifested itself, but much earlier, when one begins to entertain it, to lull it to sleep with imagination and thoughts, and ends up being trapped by its temptations," Francis warned.
"Abel's murder did not begin with a thrown stone, but with the grudge that Cain perversely harbored, turning him into a monster within himself. Here, too, God's advice is of no avail: "Sin is crouching at your door; its instinct is directed toward you, but you will subdue it" (Gen 4:7).
With the devil you should never argue. He is cunning and clever. He even used biblical quotations to tempt Jesus. He is capable of disguising evil under an invisible mask of good. That is why we must always be alert, immediately closing the slightest loophole when he tries to penetrate us," he reiterated.
Addictions, how the vice arrives, difficult to eradicate
"There are people who have fallen into addictions that they could no longer overcome (drugs, alcoholism, gambling) only because they underestimated a risk," the Pope's meditation has been ending. "They thought they were strong in a battle of nothing, but instead they ended up prey to a powerful enemy. When evil takes root in us, then it takes the name of vice, and it is a weed that is difficult to eradicate. It is only achieved at the cost of hard work."
In his conclusion, Francis encouraged us to take care of our hearts: "One must be the guardian of one's own heart. This is the recommendation we find in several desert fathers: men who left the world to live in prayer and fraternal charity. The desert - they said - is a place that spares us some battles: the battle of the eyes, the battle of the tongue and the battle of the ears, only one last battle remains, the most difficult of all, the battle of the heart".
The Christian acts as a wise guardian
"Before every thought and every desire that arises in the mind and in the heart, the Christian acts as a wise guardian, and interrogates it to know where it has come from: whether from God or from his Adversary. If it comes from God, it is to be welcomed, for it is the principle of happiness. But if it comes from the Adversary, it is only weeds, it is only pollution, and although its seed may seem small to us, once it takes root we will discover in ourselves the long branches of vice and unhappiness. The success of every spiritual battle is at stake in its beginning: in always watching over our heart".
The Pope also greeted the priests and seminarians of the Focolare Movement, the Minor Seminary of Nuoro, the Italian parishes of Supino and San Vito dei Normanni, and, as he always does, the young people, the sick and the newlyweds.
