Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News Vatican

Guard faith with ‘spiritual cunning’, says Pope

byCNS
8 January 2014
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA
Three Kings

Leading to Christ: Men dressed as the Three Kings ride on horses in an Epiphany parade in St Peter's Square at the Vatican on January 6. Photo: CNS/Paul Haring

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

VATICAN CITY: Christians should go out into the world to follow God but use “holy cunning” to guard against the snares of temptation, Pope Francis said.

The Pope made the remarks at a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica on January 6 on the feast of the Epiphany, which marks the manifestation of Jesus as saviour to the world.

In his homily, the Pope said life was a journey, and like the three Wise Men, or Magi, people were looking for the “fullness of truth and of love which we Christians recognise in Jesus, the light of the world”.

Jesus was found by reading the world of God’s creation and the sacred Scripture, which nourished the soul and “enables us to encounter the living Jesus, to experience him and his love”, the Pope said.

On life’s journey, we need to be “attentive, alert and listen to God who speaks to us”, and be prepared when we encounter “darkness, suspicion, fear and jealousy”. This happened to the Magi when they briefly lost sight of the star to Bethlehem and passed through Jerusalem where they encountered King Herod, who was “distrustful and preoccupied with the birth of a frail child whom he thought of as a rival”, the Pope said.

Jesus wasn’t interested in usurping the king, “a wretched puppet”, the Pope said, but in overthrowing the devil.

Nonetheless, the king and his counsellors felt threatened and feared “a whole world built on power, on success, on possession, on corruption was being thrown into crisis by a child”, the Pope said.

“The Magi were able to overcome that dangerous moment of darkness before Herod, because they believed in the Scriptures”, and believed the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, he said.

They were able to flee the darkness and resume their journey toward God because of a “holy cunning, that is, a spiritual shrewdness which enables us to recognise danger and to avoid it”.

Pope Francis said Jesus’ instruction to his disciples to “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” meant Christians must welcome God into their hearts and “cultivate that spiritual cunning which is able to combine simplicity with astuteness”.

Related Stories

Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says

The Church canonises 10 new saints who shared God’s love

The Magi “teach us how not to fall into the snares of darkness and how to defend ourselves from the shadows which seek to envelop our life”, the Pope said. Like the Magi, we needed to “safeguard the faith with holy cunning, guard it from that darkness which, many times, is also disguised as light”, he said.

“Shield it from the song of the Sirens”, who seek to distract us from taking the right path, guarding one’s faith “with prayer, with love, with charity”.

The Magi also taught us “not to be content with a life of mediocrity, of playing it safe, but to let ourselves be attracted always by what is good, true and beautiful – by God”, he said.

Look to the heavens as they did, aim high and “follow the great desires of our heart” while also being wise to the deception of appearances, by what the “world considers great, wise and powerful”.

“We must not be content with appearances”, but press on, past the darkness and worldly temptations, to the periphery, to Bethlehem, to find the true light and king of the universe, the Pope said.

After the Mass, tens of thousands of people streamed to St Peter’s Square to listen to the Pope’s noon prayer and to visit the Vatican’s Nativity scene.

Like the star that appeared in the night sky over Bethlehem, God is the first to appear and signal to the world his presence, the Pope said.

God is always the first to take the initiative – he is the one who invites and then patiently waits.

“The Lord calls you, the Lord looks for you, the Lord waits for you,” the Pope said. “The Lord doesn’t proselytise. He gives love and this love looks for you and waits for you, you! Even if right now you don’t believe or you are far” from God.

He asked that Jesus “strengthen in everyone their faith, hope and love, and give comfort to the Christian communities experiencing ordeals”.

CNS

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Sudan pain hits hard

Next Post

Seminarians meet the Pope

CNS

Related Posts

Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict
News

Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

19 May 2022
Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says
Faith

Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says

18 May 2022
The Church canonises 10 new saints who shared God’s love
Vatican

The Church canonises 10 new saints who shared God’s love

16 May 2022
Next Post
Holy Spirit Provincial Seminary students and faculty in Rome after attending Mass and meeting Pope Francis in December.

Seminarians meet the Pope

Pope Francis makes his way to St Peter's Square

Pope begins new series of Catechesis

Mercy often becomes a real test in practice

Popular News

  • Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Hearts ‘fused’ together living their vocation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Queensland election: The pro-life political parties committed to abortion law reforms

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition
QLD

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

by Staff writers
20 May 2022
0

SURVIVING a stroke has transformed Lewis Hoffman and the lives of those he selflessly helps as a...

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

19 May 2022
Catholic relationship advisers offer five tips to look after your mental health

Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

19 May 2022
Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

19 May 2022
Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says

Holiness is possible and the Church provides tools to attain it, cardinal says

18 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping