At 7:30am today, in the chapel at the Governatorato (the office responsible for the administration of the Vatican City State), the Holy Father, Pope Francis presided over the celebration of the Eucharist with the Vatican City State Guard, marking the feast day of their patron, Saint Michael the Archangel (September 29).
The first reading, taken from the Book of Revelations, begins with a strong word: War broke out in heaven. And then it goes on to describe this war: the final war, the last war, the war of the end. It is a war between the angels of God commanded by Saint Michael against Satan, the ancient serpent, the devil. This is the last and there it all ends; only the Lord's eternal peace remains with all his children who are faithful. But throughout all of history, this war continues every day, every day: it takes place in the hearts of men and women; it takes place in the hearts of Christians and non-Christians ... There is war between good and evil where we must choose which one we want - good or evil. But the method of war, the method of the war between these two nemeses are total opposites.
In the opening prayer, in the Collect, we ask for the grace to be defended by the Archangel Michael against the insidiousness of the devil. And this is one of the ways used by the devil: insidiousness. He sows insidiousness, no seed of life ever falls from his hand, no seed of unity, there is always insidiousness, entrapment: this is his way, to sow deceit. Let us ask the Lord to protect us from this.
And another method, another way he causes war, we heard it in the first reading, Satan who seduces: he is a seducer, one who sows deceit and a seducer, he seduces with charm, with devilish charm, he temps us to believe everything. He knows how to use his charm to sell, he is a good salesman, but he doesn't pay well in the end! This is his way. Let us consider the first time that he appears in the gospel, there was a dialogue with Jesus, Jesus was praying for forty days in the dessert, fasting, and at the end he was a bit tired and hungry. He came, moving slowly, like a serpent, and made three propositions to Jesus: If you are God, the son of God, see these stones, if you are hungry, make them change into bread; if you are the Son of God, why are you so tired? Come with me to the terrace of the temple and throw yourself off, and people will see a miracle, with no experience of tiredness, you will be recognized as the Son of God. The devil tries to seduce him, and in the end, because he could not seduce him, lastly he said: Let us speak clearly: I will give you all the power in the world if you will fall down and worship me. Let us negotiate.
There are three levels to the method employed by the ancient serpent: the devil. First, things we can have, in this case, bread, riches, the wealth that slowly leads to corruption, and this corruption is no fairy tale! It is everywhere. Corruption is everywhere: for two coins, many people sell their souls, sell their happiness, sell their lives, sell everything. This is the first level of temptation: money, riches. Then, when you have money and begin to feel important, the second level appears: vanity. This is what the devil said to Jesus: Let's go to the terrace of the temple, throw yourself down and make a great spectacle of yourself! Live for vanity. The third level: power, pride and superiority. I will give you all power over the earth, you will be in command.
This also happens to us, always, in small ways: we become too attached to riches, we are happy when we are praised, like peacocks. Many people become ridiculous, many people. Vanity changes us, makes us ridiculous. And in the end, when you have power, you feel like God, and this is a greater sin.
This is our struggle, and this is the reason why today we ask the Lord, through the intercession of the Archangel Michael to defend us from the snares, the charms advanced by the ancient serpent whose name is Satan.
You who work, have a particularly difficult task, for there are always conflicts and it's up to you to put things back into place and to avoid many crimes or deceptions. You must pray to the Lord,asking him through the intercession of Saint Michael, the Archangel to defend you from every temptation, from every temptation to corruption for the sake of money, riches, vanity or pride. And the more you are humble, like Jesus was, the more humble will your service be, more effective and more useful to all of us.
The humility of Jesus. And as we see the humility of Jesus - with this, I will conclude so as not to be too long - how do we see the humility of Jesus? If we examine the account of the temptation of Jesus, he never said a word. Jesus does not respond with his own words, he responds with the words of Scripture, all three times. And this teaches us that we cannot enter into a dialogue with the devil, and this is very helpful, when temptations come: I can't talk to you, only the Word of God will be effective.
May the Lord help us to face our everyday struggles, but not for our sakes. This is a struggle for the sake of service, because you are men and women of service: of service to society, of service to others, of service so that there will be more goodness in the world.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the Mass celebrated with the
Vatican City State Guard
The first reading, taken from the Book of Revelations, begins with a strong word: War broke out in heaven. And then it goes on to describe this war: the final war, the last war, the war of the end. It is a war between the angels of God commanded by Saint Michael against Satan, the ancient serpent, the devil. This is the last and there it all ends; only the Lord's eternal peace remains with all his children who are faithful. But throughout all of history, this war continues every day, every day: it takes place in the hearts of men and women; it takes place in the hearts of Christians and non-Christians ... There is war between good and evil where we must choose which one we want - good or evil. But the method of war, the method of the war between these two nemeses are total opposites.
In the opening prayer, in the Collect, we ask for the grace to be defended by the Archangel Michael against the insidiousness of the devil. And this is one of the ways used by the devil: insidiousness. He sows insidiousness, no seed of life ever falls from his hand, no seed of unity, there is always insidiousness, entrapment: this is his way, to sow deceit. Let us ask the Lord to protect us from this.
And another method, another way he causes war, we heard it in the first reading, Satan who seduces: he is a seducer, one who sows deceit and a seducer, he seduces with charm, with devilish charm, he temps us to believe everything. He knows how to use his charm to sell, he is a good salesman, but he doesn't pay well in the end! This is his way. Let us consider the first time that he appears in the gospel, there was a dialogue with Jesus, Jesus was praying for forty days in the dessert, fasting, and at the end he was a bit tired and hungry. He came, moving slowly, like a serpent, and made three propositions to Jesus: If you are God, the son of God, see these stones, if you are hungry, make them change into bread; if you are the Son of God, why are you so tired? Come with me to the terrace of the temple and throw yourself off, and people will see a miracle, with no experience of tiredness, you will be recognized as the Son of God. The devil tries to seduce him, and in the end, because he could not seduce him, lastly he said: Let us speak clearly: I will give you all the power in the world if you will fall down and worship me. Let us negotiate.
There are three levels to the method employed by the ancient serpent: the devil. First, things we can have, in this case, bread, riches, the wealth that slowly leads to corruption, and this corruption is no fairy tale! It is everywhere. Corruption is everywhere: for two coins, many people sell their souls, sell their happiness, sell their lives, sell everything. This is the first level of temptation: money, riches. Then, when you have money and begin to feel important, the second level appears: vanity. This is what the devil said to Jesus: Let's go to the terrace of the temple, throw yourself down and make a great spectacle of yourself! Live for vanity. The third level: power, pride and superiority. I will give you all power over the earth, you will be in command.
This also happens to us, always, in small ways: we become too attached to riches, we are happy when we are praised, like peacocks. Many people become ridiculous, many people. Vanity changes us, makes us ridiculous. And in the end, when you have power, you feel like God, and this is a greater sin.
This is our struggle, and this is the reason why today we ask the Lord, through the intercession of the Archangel Michael to defend us from the snares, the charms advanced by the ancient serpent whose name is Satan.
You who work, have a particularly difficult task, for there are always conflicts and it's up to you to put things back into place and to avoid many crimes or deceptions. You must pray to the Lord,asking him through the intercession of Saint Michael, the Archangel to defend you from every temptation, from every temptation to corruption for the sake of money, riches, vanity or pride. And the more you are humble, like Jesus was, the more humble will your service be, more effective and more useful to all of us.
The humility of Jesus. And as we see the humility of Jesus - with this, I will conclude so as not to be too long - how do we see the humility of Jesus? If we examine the account of the temptation of Jesus, he never said a word. Jesus does not respond with his own words, he responds with the words of Scripture, all three times. And this teaches us that we cannot enter into a dialogue with the devil, and this is very helpful, when temptations come: I can't talk to you, only the Word of God will be effective.
May the Lord help us to face our everyday struggles, but not for our sakes. This is a struggle for the sake of service, because you are men and women of service: of service to society, of service to others, of service so that there will be more goodness in the world.
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