Vatican City, Apr 10, 2019 / 03:49 am (CNA).- Pope Francis warned Wednesday that pride is the most dangerous attitude in the Christian life, pointing out that even the holiest of people have received everything from God.
“None of us loves God as He loved us. It is enough to put oneself before a crucifix to grasp the disproportion,” Pope Francis said April 10.
“Before God we are all sinners,” Francis said. “If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us,” he said quoting the first epistle of John.
The pope said that pride is “the most dangerous attitude of every Christian life," warning that arrogance can “also infect people who live an intense religious life.”
“There are glaring sins that make noise, and there are also devious sins, which lurk in the heart without us even realizing it. The worst of these is pride,” Francis said.
The sin of pride divides people and makes us presume to be better than others, he explained. “We always remain children who owe everything to the Father.”
Pope Francis said that when we go through difficult days, we must always remember that life is a miracle that God has created from nothing.
“In this life we have received so much: existence, a father and a mother, friendship, the wonders of creation,” he said.
“If you love, it is because someone next to you has awakened you to love, making you understand how in it lies the meaning of existence,” he explained.
Pope Francis called this principle the “mystery of the moon,” which has no light of its own, but reflects the light of the sun.
“We love because we have been loved, we forgive because we have been forgiven,” he said. “None of us shines with our own light.”
The pope said that understanding this can give us a greater empathy for others.
“Let's try to listen to the story of some person who made a mistake: a prisoner, a convict, a drug addict,” Francis said. Without neglecting to consider personal responsibility, he said, you can ask yourself whether these mistakes are the result of a “story of hatred and abandonment that someone carries with him.”
Pope Francis reflected on a line, “Forgive us our trespasses” as a part of his ongoing catechesis on the “Our Father” prayer.
“Lord, even the holiest among us does not cease to be your debtor. O Father, have pity on us all,” Pope Francis prayed.
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Oddly enough I remember my dear old mother saying the same thing about pride. Her mom made her quit school in the 11th grade, as she turned sixteen. It was so she could go out and find a job which she eventually did through persistence at a Kroger grocery store.
Pride is something we all are allowed to feel when we accomplish something. Arrogance is when we choose to believe that our accomplishments put us above and superior to others and that gives us the right to hurt them. Wish that church leadership would teach that all important difference.