An Afghan soldier stands guard on a roadside in Ghazni, Afghanistan, April 22. Pope Francis said May 16 a peace that can be purchased can provide only a false sense of security that will not last in moments of trial and suffering. (CNS photo/Ghulam Mustafa, EPA)

True peace can’t be bought, it’s a gift, pope says at morning Mass

931 0

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A peace that can be purchased can provide only a false sense of security that will not last in moments of trial and suffering, Pope Francis said during his early morning Mass.

“The world teaches us a path of peace with anesthesia; it anesthetizes us to not see another reality of life: the cross,” he said May 16. On the other hand, “the peace that Jesus gives is a gift; it is a gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading (Jn. 14:27-31) in which Jesus promises his peace to his disciples.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid,” Jesus said.

This peace, the pope said, “goes forward amid tribulations” and is “not a sort of stoicism like that of a fakir. No, it is another thing.”

“God’s peace is a real peace that moves along with the reality of life, that does not deny life,” he said. It says, “Life is like this: there is suffering, there are those who are sick, there are so many bad things, there are wars, but that peace from within — which is a gift — is not lost but goes forward carrying the cross and suffering.”

On their own, he said, people are able to create only a peace “that is reduced to tranquility” and withers away at the first sign of trouble.

“A peace without the cross is not Jesus’ peace: It is a peace that can be bought. We can make it ourselves, but it isn’t lasting; it ends,” the pope said.

Citing St. Augustine’s work, “The City of God,” Pope Francis said that “the life of a Christian is a path between the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God” and that Christians “must enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations.”

“May the Lord help us to truly understand this peace that he gives us with the Holy Spirit,” the pope said.

Related Post

A U.S. Border Patrol agent frisks a man Jan. 11 near the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Jacumba, Calif. Despite the apprehension over policies that could be enacted by a Republican-led Congress acting in accord with a Republican president in Donald Trump, the U.S. Catholic bishops remain hopeful that an immigration reform bill will pass. (CNS photo/Mike Blake, Reuters)

Bishops still have hope Congress will pass immigration reform

Posted by - January 20, 2017 0
 By Mark Pattison, Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — Despite the apprehension over policies that could be enacted by a…
Pope Francis and Patti Gallagher Mansfield, a participant in the 1967 Pittsburgh retreat that marked the beginning of the Charismatic renewal, pray during a Pentecost vigil marking the 50th anniversary of the Catholic charismatic renewal at the Circus Maximus in Rome June 3. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Mercy toward others implies taking risks, suffering, pope says

Posted by - June 10, 2017 0
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Works of mercy are not a way of easing one’s conscience but are acts of suffering…
Pope Francis speaks in Spanish in a video message to Catholic leaders taking part in a safeguarding course at the Pontifical University of Mexico in Mexico City. The pope said prevention is key to preventing abuse. (CNS photo/Pontifical University of Mexico YouTube channel)

Pope: Church needs apostolate of prevention to protect minors from abuse

Posted by - July 26, 2019 0
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Prevention is key in protecting minors from abuse, Pope Francis said. The protection of minors is…