The Christian must fight against spiritual lukewarmness so that his life does not become «a cemetery»: this is the invitation of Pope Francis to the Mass he celebrated at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican on September 26, 2019.
Commenting on the first reading (Ag 1: 1-8), the pope pointed out that the people of Israel «did not want to get up, start over; he did not allow himself to be helped by the Lord who wanted to raise him up «.
«It’s the tragedy of this people,» he said, «and ours too, when we are taken by the spirit of lukewarmness … when we say, yes, yes, Lord, it’s okay … but gently, Lord, let’s leave things like this … But tomorrow I’ll do it! «, to say the same thing tomorrow and tomorrow pushes back to the day after tomorrow and the day after tomorrow pushes back to … and so, a life of returning conversion decisions of the heart, change of life. «
For the pope, the one who lets himself be won over by this lukewarmness sees his life end up «in rags because we have done nothing, we have only kept peace and inner calm». But it is about «the peace of cemeteries».
«When we enter this warmth, in this attitude of spiritual lukewarmness, we transform our life into a cemetery,» he continued: «there is no life. There is only closure so that the problems do not enter, like those people who say «yes, yes, we are in ruins but do not take risks: it’s better, we are already used to live like this» . «
«Let us ask the Lord for the grace of not falling into this spirit of» half-Christians «or …» Christians with rose water «, like that, without substance. Good Christians, who work a lot – ‘You have sown a lot, but harvested little’. Vines that promised a lot, and in the end did not give anything. «
May the Lord help us, «concluded the Pope,» to wake us up from the spirit of lukewarmness «, to fight against» this sweet anesthesia of the spiritual life «and to embrace» the little things that do not go, that the Lord wants us to change. «
