While reminding that no one should be worried, Pope Francis stressed parents ought to protect children, especially given their curiosity and their exposure online.
According to Vatican News, Pope Francis stressed this during his daily morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta as he reflected on the interaction between Jesus and his disciples in the day’s Gospel as a healthy “dialogue between curiosity and certainty.”
The Holy Father encouraged Christians to pray for the grace to be able to discern between good and bad curiosities and to open one’s heart to the Holy Spirit who gives certainty in life.
Children, the Pope observed, have healthy curiosity and are very inquisitive.
Noting that life is full of curiosities, the Pope stressed the importance of being able to differentiate between good and bad ones. Children’s inquisitiveness, he noted, is healthy, because as they grow up, they notice things they don’t understand and seek an explanation. This, he said, develops autonomy.
Gossip, the Pope denounced, as bad curiosity. Eavesdropping about the life of others, he said, ends up dirtying others, making people understand things that they do not have the right to know.
“This kind of bad curiosity accompanies us all our lives,” he said, warning, “it is a temptation that we will always have.”
When they find many bad things online, the Pope noted, they should be helped not to become prisoners of this curiosity. He urged Christians to ask for the Holy Spirit who gives certainty against this unhealthy curiosity.
Yet, he highlighted, there is nothing to be frightened of but one must be careful. The Holy Father said there are many curiosities, for example, in the virtual world.
“There is no discipline in that curiosity,” the Pope warned.
Pope Francis urged adults to help young people live in this world, by making sure that their desire to know does not make them prisoners of curiosity.
The Holy Spirit, the Pope said, brings certainty
The curiosity of the Apostles in the Gospel, the Pope said, was healthy because they wanted to know what will happen and Jesus responded by giving them a certainty that “never deceives,” promising them the Holy Spirit who will teach them everything and remind them of everything He has told them.
It is the Holy Spirit, Francis stressed, who brings certainty in our life, “but not like a bundle of certainties.” In the measure we proceed in life and ask the Holy Spirit opening our hearts, he said, the Holy Spirit give us the certainty for that moment, the answer for that moment. The Holy Spirit is the companion on the journey of a Christian, the Pope said.
This talk between Jesus and his disciples, which is “dialogue of between human curiosity and certainty,” the Pope explained ends with this reference to the Holy Spirit, “the companion of memory” that leads to “fixed happiness” that does not move.
Pope Francis concluded, telling Christians to turn to and have true joy with the Holy Spirit, Who will help them not make mistakes.
