Humility, Disinterestedness, Blessedness

Pope Francis just gave a powerful address to Italian Catholics in Florence. (You can find a summary here.)

In it, he described what he termed a “new humanism,” mentioning three sentiments of Jesus that describe that humanism. They are:

Humility: “The obsession with preserving one’s glory, one’s “dignity”, one’s influence, must not form part of our sentiments. We must pursue God’s glory and this does not coincide with ours.”

Disinterest: “[T]he happiness of those by our side. A Chriastian’s humanity is always outgoing. It is not narcissistic or self-referential…. “Our duty is to work to make this world a better place and to fight. Our faith is revolutionary due to an impulse that comes from the Holy Spirit.”

Blessedness: To live a live of blessedness is to live in accordance with the Beatitudes.

These three sentiments “tell us we must not be obsessed with “power”, even when this may appear useful and functional to the social image of the Church. If the Church does not adopt Jesus’ sentiments, it becomes disoriented, it loses the sense. Jesus’ sentiments tell us that a Church that thinks of itself and its own interests is a sad Church.”

There is much more in the sermon, but these three seem to offer great fruit for our daily examen. To what extent do I reflect these three sentiments of Jesus?

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