Christians need to recover the
value of meekness, particularly when they are tempted to speak ill of
one another or gossip about each other, Pope Francis said April 9 during
his early morning Mass.
Complaining behind each other's backs is a temptation that comes "from
the Evil One who does not want the Spirit to dwell among us and give
peace, meekness to the Christian community," the pope said.
Joining Pope Francis for the Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae were
staff members of the Vatican health service and from the general
services department of the office governing Vatican City State.
The pope's brief homily focused on the first reading, from the Acts of
the Apostles, which describes the members of the earliest Christian
community as being "of one heart and mind."
Catholics today must strive to model their relationships on those of the
earliest Christians, who truly lived the experience of having received a
new life through baptism, Pope Francis said.
The new life offered through the grace of baptism is something that
Christians must work on developing; even though it "principally depends
on the Spirit," he said, it also takes effort on the part of each
individual to cooperate with that grace.
The new life of the early Christians was expressed in "that unity,
unanimity, that harmony of feelings in mutual love," he said, according
to Vatican Radio.
He said the virtue of meekness, which is a key to harmony, has been "a bit forgotten."
Meekness, he said, has "many enemies" and the first is gossip. "When one
prefers gossiping, gossiping about another, it's like clobbering
another. This is normal, it happens to everyone, including me -- it is a
temptation of the Evil One."
The struggle against such harmful chatter, he said, is something that
continually sows tensions in parishes, families, neighborhoods and among
friends.
"But this is not the new life" promised by baptism, because when the
Holy Spirit descends, "it gives birth to a new life within us, it makes
us meek, charitable," the pope said.
Christians, he said, "must not judge anyone" because the Lord is the
only judge. They should "keep quiet," but if they must say something
they must speak only to the person who could remedy the situation --
"not the whole neighborhood."
"If, with the grace of the Spirit, we were able to stop gossiping, it
would be a huge step forward," Pope Francis said, and "it would do
everyone good."