During his Angelus address on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis warned those who seek security in consulting horoscopes and fortune tellers rather than the word of the Lord.
Vatican Radio is reporting on the teaching given by the Pope in reference to the day’s Gospel that recounted St. Peter’s attempt to walk on water, only to let doubt cause him to falter and sink.
This Gospel story is rich in symbolism, the Pope said. The boat, “is the life of each of us, but it is also the life of the Church; The wind represents difficulties and trials.”
Peter’s cry, “Lord save me” is “so much like our desire to feel the closeness of the Lord, but also the fear and anguish that accompany the toughest moments of our lives and our communities, marked by internal fragility and external difficulties,” the pope said.
However, Peter allowed doubt to enter his mind because he was not sure of the word of Jesus, which was like a rope to cling to in hostile and turbulent waters, this pope explained, which can happen to us as well.
“When you do not cling to the word of the Lord, but to have more security in consulting horoscopes and fortune tellers, you sink.”
Faith in the Lord and His word doesn’t necessarily open a path of ease and comfort, and it doesn’t take away the storms of life, but it “gives us the assurance of a Presence, that is Christ, which pushes us to overcome the existential buffs; Faith, in short, is not a loophole from the problems of life, but it sustains our journey and gives it meaning.”
As the Catholic News Agency reports, the Pope went on to say the Gospel passage is a “stupendous image” of the reality of the Church throughout the ages, “a ship which, along the crossing, must counter winds and storms which threaten to overwhelm it.” http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/trust-in-christ-not-in-horoscopes-pope-francis-says-69910/
What saves the ship is not the courage and quality of it’s men, he said, but rather, “the guarantee against a shipwreck is faith in Christ and in his word.”
“On this ship we are safe, despite our miseries and weaknesses, above all when we get on our knees and adore the Lord” as the disciples did, who, after Jesus calmed the storm, prostrated themselves and said “truly you are the Son of God!”
To drive the point home, Francis led the crowd in repeating three times, “truly you are the Son of God.”
He closed by asking the Virgin Mary to intercede in helping all to “stay firm in the faith in order to resist the storms of life, to stay on the boat of the Church, eschewing the temptation to go on amusing, yet insecure boats of ideologies, fashions and slogans.”
