The Pope lamented that today’s society has lost «the sense of adoration» and urged us not to be afraid of «restlessness» and to have the «courage» to assume the «risks of the path» of the search for God as the Magi did.
«We pray so many times, we ask for things, but often we lack the prayer of adoration, the sense of adoration. We have lost the sense of worship. We have lost the ability to understand the concerns and the courage to take the risks of the journey,» Francis said at the Mass of the Epiphany, which he celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica, before about 5,000 faithful, according to Vatican media.
«The way of the Magi, the way of all the Saints of History receives restlessness, sets out and adores,» Francis said in an improvised way, departing from the written text he had prepared.
The Pontiff – who on Thursday presided over the solemn funeral of Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square – lamented that today’s society offers «tranquilizers of the soul,» which are «substitutes to sedate our restlessness and extinguish» the questions about happiness and the fullness of life.
Thus, he described «consumerism», the «idolatry of well-being», the «seductions of pleasure» and «sensationalist debates» as sedatives of faith and urged us to be like the Magi who ventured on a «risky» journey without «sure paths» or «maps defined in advance» to find God.
«We often seek to accommodate the heart in the safe of comfort, but if the Magi had done this they would never have found the Lord,» the Pontiff exclaimed during the homily.
In his address he made no explicit reference to his predecessor, but he did quote his words at the Mass of the Epiphany on January 6, 2013, a month before his historic resignation, about the figure of the Magi. «Their external pilgrimage _ Benedict XVI said _ was an expression of their being interiorly on the way, of the interior pilgrimage of their hearts,» he stressed.
In his opinion, from the products of consumerism to the seductions of pleasure, from sensationalist debates to the idolatry of well-being, everything seems to tell us: don’t think too much, let them pass, enjoy life».
In this way, he urged to maintain a «continuous journey» and a «constant dialogue» because without listening to the Word and without «perseverance, one cannot grow». «A mere notion of God and some prayer that calms the conscience are not enough; it is necessary to become disciples who follow Jesus and his Gospel, to speak everything with Him in prayer, to seek Him in everyday situations and in the faces of our brothers and sisters,» he added.
The Pope made it clear that faith cannot be «reduced» to a «mere personal devotion or confined within the walls of the temples, but it is necessary to manifest it, to live it by marching constantly towards God and towards our brothers and sisters.» «Faith is born when we stop keeping ourselves in a neutral space and decide to live in the uncomfortable spaces of life,» he said.
Thus, he urged to live the faith in public spaces and not only in a private way and asked to adore God so as not to bow «before the things that happen or before the seductive and empty logics of evil».
In the same way, he pointed out that «Jesus comes to enlighten all peoples and to illuminate the nights of humanity».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
