Pope's Homily: Don't become obsessed with material wealth

2015-06-19

In his Friday morning Mass, Pope Francis talked about the dangers of becoming a slave to material wealth. He said focusing on accumulating riches, corrupts the heart. 

POPE FRANCIS

"In the end wealth doesn’t give us lasting security. Instead, it tends to reduce one's dignity. We see this in families – so many divided families.  This ambition that destroys and corrupts is also at the root of wars. There are so many wars in our world nowadays because of greed for power and wealth. We can think of the war in our own hearts. The Lord said, ‘Be on your guard against avarice of any kind.’ 

Because greed moves and moves forward.  It’s like a flight of steps, the door opens and then vanity comes in - convincing ourselves that we are important, believing ourselves to be powerful… and then in the end comes pride, along with all its vices.” 

He then added that riches should be shared with those in need. 

SUMMARY OF THE POPE'S HOMILY: 

(Source: Vatican Radio) 

Pope Francis warns against the corrupting effects of greed and accumulating wealth for ourselves, saying they are at the root of wars and family divisions. His words came during his homily at his morning Mass on Friday (June 19th) at the Santa Marta residence.

Taking his inspiration from the day’s gospel reading where Jesus warned his disciples not to accumulate treasures on the earth but instead in heaven, the Pope reflects on the many dangers posed by greed and human ambition. He said these vices end up corrupting and enslaving our hearts and rather than accumulating wealth for ourselves we should be using it for the common good.  

"In the end this wealth doesn’t give us lasting security. Instead, it tends to reduce your dignity. And this happens in families – so many divided families.  And this ambition that destroys and corrupts is also at the root of wars. There are so many wars in our world nowadays because of greed for power and wealth. We can think of the war in our own hearts. As the Lord said, ‘Be on your guard against avarice of any kind.’ Because greed moves forward, moves forward, moves forward…   it’s like a flight of steps, the door opens and then vanity comes in - believing ourselves to be important, believing ourselves to be powerful… and then in the end pride (comes). And all the vices come from that, all of them. They are steps but the first step is avarice, that desire to accumulate wealth.”