The Gospel of Life is opposed to all ideologies “dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and pleasure”, Pope Francis said at a Mass marking Evangelium Vitae Day yesterday.
Addressing thousands of pro-life advocates from around the globe, the Holy Father said that the Gospel is the “way to freedom and life” but that lifestyles “dictated by selfishness… lead to slavery and death”.
The powerful homily was given to the faithful in St Peter’s Square, with pilgrims from across five continents joined by 1,400 bikers who had come to Rome to celebrate 110 years of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Quoting from the Second Book of Samuel, the Holy Father said: “God is the Living One; Jesus brings us the life of God; the Holy Spirit gives and keeps us in our new life as true sons and daughters of God. But all too often, people do not choose life, they do not accept the ‘Gospel of Life’ but let themselves be led by ideologies and ways of thinking that block life, that do not respect life, because they are dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and pleasure, and not by love, by concern for the good of others. It is the eternal dream of wanting to build the city of man without God, without God’s life and love – a new Tower of Babel.
“It is the idea that rejecting God, the message of Christ, the Gospel of Life, will somehow lead to freedom, to complete human fulfilment. As a result, the Living God is replaced by fleeting human idols which offer the intoxication of a flash of freedom, but in the end bring new forms of slavery and death. The wisdom of the Psalmist says: ‘The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.’”
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