May the Lord grant us the grace to watch our tongues and be careful of what we say of others, because through our weakness and sin, we often find it easier to insult and denigrate than say or do good. This was the lesson at the heart of Pope Francis\u2019 homily Thursday morning at Mass, which he celebrated in his native Spanish. Greeting the men and women who work at Argentina\u2019s embassies and consulates to Italy and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization in Rome,<\/p>\n
Pope Francis noted \u201cIt\u2019s the first time I have celebrated Mass in Spanish since February 26th<\/sup>!, adding \u201cit feels good!\u201d.<\/p>\nAs is tradition, Pope Francis\u2019 homily was inspired by the Gospel of the day, in particular Christ\u2019s words to his disciples \u201cunless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pope noted how this Gospel follows the Gospel of the Beatitudes and Jesus promise that He had not come to dissolve the law but to fulfill it. Pope Francis said that Christ wants \u201creform in continuity: from the [planting of the ] seed up to the fruit\u201d.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis warned that anyone who \u201centers Christian life\u201d will have \u201cgreater demands made of them than others\u201d and not \u201cgreater advantages\u201d. He said Jesus mentions some of these demands, in particular the problem of \u201cbad relations among brethren\u201d. If our heart harbors \u201cbad feelings\u201d towards our brothers, the Pope said, \u201csomething is not working and we must convert, we must change.\u201d Pope Francis noted that \u201canger towards a brother is an insult, it\u2019s something almost deathly \u201c, \u201cit kills him.\u201d He then observed that, especially in the Latin tradition, there is a \u201cwonderful creativity\u201d in inventing epithets. But, he cautioned, \u201cwhen this epithet is friendly this is fine, the problem is when there is another kind of epithet\u201d, when the \u201cmechanism of insult\u201d comes into play, which is \u201ca form of denigration of others.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cY no hace falta ir al psicologo\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nPope Francis continued: \u201cThere is no need to go to a psychologist to know that when we denigrates another person it is because we are unable to grow up and need to belittle others, to feel more important.\u201d This, he said, is \u201can ugly mechanism\u201d. Jesus, \u201cwith all the simplicity says: \u201cDo not speak ill of one another. Do not denigrate one another. Do not belittle one another\u201d. The Pope noted, \u201cin the end we are all travelling on the same road\u201d, \u201cwe are all travelling on that road that will take us to the very end.\u201d Therefore \u201cif we do not choose a fraternal path, it will end badly, for the person who insults and the insulted\u201d. The Pope noted that \u201cif we are not able to keep our tongues in check, we lose\u201d. \u201cNatural aggression, that of Cain toward Abel, repeats itself throughout history.\u201d Pope Francis observed that it is not that we are bad, rather \u201cwe are weak and sinners.\u201d That\u2019s why it is \u201cmuch easier\u201d, to \u201cresolve a situation with an insult, with slander, defamation instead of resolving it with good means\u201d.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cYo quisiera pedir al Se\u00f1or que\u2026\u201d
\n<\/strong>
\nPope Francis concluded: \u201cI would ask the Lord to give us all the grace to watch our tongues, to watch what we say about others.\u201d \u201cIt is a small penance \u2013 he added \u2013 but it bears a lot of fruit.\u201d \u201cSometimes, we go hungry and think, \u2018What a pity I didn\u2019t taste the fruit of a tasty comment against another person.\u201d But, he said, \u201cthat hunger bears fruit in the long run is good for us.\u201d That\u2019s why we ask the Lord for this grace: to adapt our lives \u201cto this new law, which is the law of meekness, the law of love, the law of peace, and at least \u2018prune\u2019 our tongues a little, \u2018prune\u2019 the comments that we make of others and outbursts that lead us to an easy anger or insult. May the Lord grant us all this grace\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From today\u2019s homily:\u00a0 May the Lord grant us the grace to watch our tongues and be careful of what we say of others, because through our weakness and sin, we often find it easier to insult and denigrate than say or do good. This was the lesson at the heart of Pope Francis\u2019 homily Thursday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,39],"tags":[11191],"class_list":["post-23894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liturgy","category-pope","tag-pope"],"yoast_head":"\n
"It Feels Good!": For First Time as Pope, Francis Celebrates Mass in His Native Spanish<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From today's homily:\u00a0 May the Lord grant us the grace to watch our tongues and be careful of what we say of others, because through our weakness and sin,\" \/>\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\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""It Feels Good!": For First Time as Pope, Francis Celebrates Mass in His Native Spanish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From today's homily:\u00a0 May the Lord grant us the grace to watch our tongues and be careful of what we say of others, because through our weakness and sin,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-13T14:11:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-30T20:03:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"It Feels Good!\\\": For First Time as Pope, Francis Celebrates Mass in His Native Spanish\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-13T14:11:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-30T20:03:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\"},\"description\":\"From today's homily:\u00a0 May the Lord grant us the grace to watch our tongues and be careful of what we say of others, because through our weakness and sin,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“It Feels Good!”: For First Time as Pope, Francis Celebrates Mass in His Native Spanish\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\",\"name\":\"The Deacon's Bench\",\"description\":\"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\",\"name\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"It Feels Good!\": For First Time as Pope, Francis Celebrates Mass in His Native Spanish","description":"From today's homily:\u00a0 May the Lord grant us the grace to watch our tongues and be careful of what we say of others, because through our weakness and sin,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"It Feels Good!\": For First Time as Pope, Francis Celebrates Mass in His Native Spanish","og_description":"From today's homily:\u00a0 May the Lord grant us the grace to watch our tongues and be careful of what we say of others, because through our weakness and sin,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2013-06-13T14:11:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-30T20:03:38+00:00","author":"Deacon Greg Kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deacon Greg Kandra","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/","name":"\"It Feels Good!\": For First Time as Pope, Francis Celebrates Mass in His Native Spanish","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-06-13T14:11:44+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-30T20:03:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970"},"description":"From today's homily:\u00a0 May the Lord grant us the grace to watch our tongues and be careful of what we say of others, because through our weakness and sin,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/it-feels-good-for-first-time-as-pope-francis-celebrates-mass-in-his-native-spanish\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“It Feels Good!”: For First Time as Pope, Francis Celebrates Mass in His Native Spanish"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}