Remember you're going to die, Pope Francis counsels

By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Feb 1, 2018 / 09:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Spending time reflecting on your own death can be a freeing experience, and one that can even help us to become better people, Pope Francis said in a homily at the Casa Santa Marta Thursday.

Death “is a fact that affects everyone,” the Pope said Feb. 1. For some people it may come sooner and for some later, but regardless, “it comes.”

Because we are all men and women on a journey in finite time, he continued, it is a good idea to pray to God asking for a good sense of time, so that we are not “imprisoned” by the present moment. He also recommended repeating to yourself the phrase: “I am not the master of time.”
Remembering that we are all on the path to death “will make us treat everyone well.”


The Pope’s homily was inspired by the day’s first reading, which was taken from the first Book of Kings, and is on the death of David.
In the reading, King David knows the hour of his death is approaching and gives instructions to his son, Solomon, to prepare him for taking over the throne.

David first explains to Solomon that he is “going the way of all flesh” and tells him, in the face of this fact, to “take courage and be a man.”

“Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever you turn,” David tells Solomon.


Continuing on this theme, Francis said that another question we should ask ourselves is: “What would be my legacy if God were to call me today? What legacy would I leave as a testimony of my life?”
“It is a good question to ask ourselves. And thus, we can prepare ourselves, because each one of us… none of us will remain ‘as a relic.’ We must all go down this path,” he said.


Remembering that we will inevitably die can help us live the present moment better, he noted, “illuminating with the fact of death the decisions that I must make every day.”


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Taken from: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/remember-youre-going-to-die-pope-francis-counsels-90734

Pope: Help others before chasing money

         

Pope Francis warned against the pursuit of money and urged the faithful to help the poor and others in need of assistance in his Epiphany sermon

Associated Press January 7

 

Pope Francis advised against making the pursuit of money, a career or success the basis for one’s whole life, urging people in his Epiphany remarks to focus on helping others less fortunate.

Speaking at his Epiphany Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome he noted that people “often make do” with having “health, a little money and a bit of entertainment.”
But he urged them to also help the poor and others in need of assistance, giving freely without expecting anything in return.
“To do good without counting the cost, even when unasked, even when you gain nothing thereby, even if it is unpleasant: That is what God wants,” he said.
Many Christians observe Epiphany to recall the three wise men who followed a star to find the baby Jesus. Francis suggested asking “what star we have chosen to follow in our lives.”
“Some stars may be bright, but do not point the way. So it is with success, money, career, honours and pleasures when these become our lives,” the pope said. That path, he continued, won’t ensure peace and joy.
Later, during an appearance from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, Francis told tens of thousands of Roman Catholics gathered below that some Christians prefer to live while indifferent to Jesus.
“Instead of conducting themselves in coherence with their own Christian faith, they follow the principles of the world, which lead to satisfying the inclinations toward arrogance, the thirst for power and for riches,” Francis said.
He prayed that instead that “the world makes progress down the path of justice and of peace.”
Francis noted that some Eastern Rite Catholic and Orthodox churches are celebrating Christmas this weekend.
In expressing cordial wishes to these believers, Francis added, “May this glorious celebration be a source of new spiritual vigour and of communion among us Christians.”
He also recalled the traditions such as in Poland, where many families join in processions recalling the three wise men.
In some countries, Epiphany and not Christmas, is the holiday occasion to exchange gifts among loved ones.

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Taken from: http://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/pope-help-others-before-chasing-money/news-story/efab0fa87a59febf2b77d4f227e548f0