{"id":4390,"date":"2013-09-29T15:49:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-29T15:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/materialism-robs-us-of-our-humanity-warns-pope-francis\/"},"modified":"2013-09-29T15:49:00","modified_gmt":"2013-09-29T15:49:00","slug":"materialism-robs-us-of-our-humanity-warns-pope-francis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/09\/materialism-robs-us-of-our-humanity-warns-pope-francis\/","title":{"rendered":"Materialism robs us of our humanity, warns Pope Francis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Vatican City, Sep 29, 2013 \/ 09:49 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Pope Francis celebrated Mass in cloudy St. Peter\u2019s Square this morning, cautioning the faithful against the danger of losing their personal identity to materialism.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhenever material things, money, worldliness, become the center of our lives, they take hold of us, they possess us; we lose our very identity as human beings,\u201d he said on September 29.<\/p>\n

\tSunday\u2019s Mass was held at the close of an international weekend conference in Rome for catechists during the year of faith.<\/p>\n

\tThe Pope explained that Christians must be on guard against \u201cthe danger of complacency, comfort, worldliness in our lifestyles and in our hearts, of making our well-being the most important thing in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tWhen materialism takes over, we \u201cend up becoming self-absorbed and finding security in material things which ultimately rob us of our face, our human face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe human person is \u201cmade in the image and likeness of God, not in the image and likeness of material objects, not in that of idols!\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n

\tToo much concern for material things can lead us to \u201close the memory of God.\u201d\u00a0 With this forgetfulness, Christians \u201cbecome empty; like the rich man in the Gospel, we no longer have a face!\u201d<\/p>\n

\tMary serves as an example for all because she maintains the remembrance of God.<\/p>\n

\tMoreover, Mary \u201csees God\u2019s wondrous works in her life but doesn\u2019t think about honor, prestige or wealth; she doesn\u2019t become self-absorbed,\u201d noted the Pope.<\/p>\n

\tInstead, she goes to help others.<\/p>\n

\tWhen Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth after the Annunciation, Pope Francis said, she recalls \u201cGod\u2019s work, God\u2019s fidelity in her own life, in the history of her people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tChristian catechists should seek to be like Mary, putting the remembrance of God \u201cat the service of proclamation, not to be important, not to talk about himself or herself, but to talk about God, about his love and his fidelity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe catechist, then, is a Christian who is mindful of God, who is guided by the memory of God in his or her entire life and who is able to awaken that memory in the hearts of others,\u201d explained the Pontiff.<\/p>\n

\tYet, \u201cthis is not easy!\u201d he acknowledged. \u201cIt engages our entire existence!\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe work of the catechist is not merely his or her own work, Pope Francis reminded the congregation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tRather, the gift of faith in our lives \u201ccontains our own memory of God\u2019s history with us, the memory of our encountering God who always takes the first step, who creates, saves, and transforms us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAn estimated 600 priests were vested for the mass, as well as cardinals and bishops from around the world, including Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, and Cardinal Sean O\u2019Malley of Boston, who is part of the group of eight cardinals appointed to advise the Pope on possible reforms to the Roman Curia.<\/p>\n

\tPope Francis concluded Mass with the traditional noon Angelus prayer and greeted the various groups present.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tHe particularly thanked His Beatitude John X, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, for his presence at the liturgy. He called the Patriarch \u201cmy brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Pope then greeted the cheering pilgrims from his Popemobile, stopping to bless babies and the disabled.<\/p>\n

\tThe crowds were so large that they spilled out of St. Peter\u2019s Square, filling Via della Conciliazione, the street leading to the square.\u00a0 Hand-painted flags waved with messages like \u201cthank you for having called us\u201d and \u201cwe go to serve without fear.\u201d\u00a0 Many people wore \u201cYear of Faith\u201d scarves around their necks.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vatican City, Sep 29, 2013 \/ 09:49 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Pope Francis celebrated Mass in cloudy St. Peter’s Square this morning, cautioning the faithful against the danger of losing their personal identity to materialism.<\/p>\n

\t“Whenever materia…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nMaterialism robs us of our humanity, warns Pope Francis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Sep 29, 2013 \/ 09:49 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Pope Francis celebrated Mass in cloudy St. Peter’s Square this morning, cautioning the faithful against the danger of losing their personal identity to materialism. “Whenever materia...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/09\/materialism-robs-us-of-our-humanity-warns-pope-francis\/\" \/>\n<meta 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