“Money sickens our minds, poisons our thoughts, even poisons our faith, leading us down the path of jealousy, quarrels, suspicion and conflict. It drives to idle words and pointless discussions. It also corrupts the mind of some people that see religion as a source of profit. ‘I am Catholic, I go to Mass, everyone thinks well of me... But underneath I have my businesses. I worship money’. And here we have the word we usually find in newspapers: ‘Men of corrupted minds’. Money corrupts us! There’s no way out.”
“We can never serve God and money at the same time. It is not possible: either one or the other. This is not Communism. It is the true Gospel! They are the Lord’s words. While money begins by offering a sense of well being. Then you feel important and vanity comes. We read in the Psalm. This vanity is useless, but still you think you are important. And after vanity comes pride. Those are the three steps: wealth, vanity and pride.”
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Author: Pope Francis
Keywords: Wealth, Money, Mammon, Greed, Riches
Bible reference(s): Deuteronomy 8:10, Deuteronomy 8:12-14, Deuteronomy 8:17, Deuteronomy 31:20, Deuteronomy 32:15, Proverbs 11:4, Proverbs 11:28, Proverbs 16:8, Proverbs 18:11, Proverbs 18:23, Proverbs 23:4-5, Proverbs 28:11, Proverbs 28:20, Proverbs 30:8-9, Psalms 37:16, Psalms 62:10, Psalms 119:36, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Ecclesiastes 5:12, Jeremiah 9:23, Ezekiel 28:5, Hosea 12:8, Matthew 6:19, Matthew 6:21, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 13:22, Matthew 19:22-24, Mark 4:19, Mark 10:22-23, Mark 10:25, Luke 6:24, Luke 12:15-21, Luke 16:13-14, Luke 16:19, 1 Timothy 6:7-10, 1 Timothy 3:3, 1 Timothy 6:17-19, James 5:1-2, James 1:11
Source: Excerpts from a homily given by Pope Francis on September 20, 2013 at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.
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