Pope Francis today continued with his catechesis series on the sacrament of confirmation, noting that we give the Holy Spirit a lot of work with our penchant for gossiping, when instead He comes to bring us peace.
The pope noted how the bishop gives the newly confirmed the sign of peace, and then peace is offered during the Mass.
“This means harmony, it means charity between us, it means peace. But then what happens? We go out and start to speak badly of others, ‘flaying’ them. The gossip starts. And gossip is war. This is not good!” Francis said.
“If we have received the sign of peace with the strength of the Holy Spirit, we must be men and women of peace, and not destroy, with the tongue, the peace that the Spirit has made. Poor Holy Spirit, the task He has with us, with this habit of gossiping! Think about it: gossip is not the work of the Holy Spirit, it is not the work of the unity of the Church. Gossip destroys what God makes. Please: stop gossiping!”
Read more:
How to avoid gossip, according to the ‘The Imitation of Christ’
The pope said this in the context of a reminder that the Holy Spirit is given us from God, so that we might in turn be a gift to others in the Spirit.
“That gift of the Holy Spirit enters into us and becomes fruitful, so that we can then give it to others. Always receive to give: never receive and keep things inside, as if the soul were a warehouse. No: always receive to give,” the Holy Father said.
“God’s graces are received to be given to others. This is the life of the Christian. It is typical of the Spirit, then, to decentralize ourselves from our ‘I,’ so as to open ourselves to the ‘we’ of the community: to receive so as to give. We are not at the center: we are a tool of that gift for others.”
Read more:
A therapeutic oil that represents the Holy Spirit’s work?: Pope Francis explains
