At 10.00 this morning, 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Holy Father Leo XIV celebrated Holy Mass in the Church of Saint Anne in the Vatican.
The following is the homily delivered by the Pope after the proclamation of the Gospel:
Homily of the Holy Father
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am particularly pleased to preside over this Eucharist in the pontifical parish of Saint Anne. I gratefully greet the Augustinian religious who provide their service here, in particular the parish priest, Father Mario Millardi, as well as the new Prior General of the Order, who is here with us today, Father Joseph Farrell; and I would also like to greet Father Gioele Schiavella, who recently reached the venerable age of one hundred and three years.
This church stands in a special position, which is also a key for the pastoral ministry it carries out: we are, in fact, so to speak, “on the border”, and almost all those who enter and leave Vatican City pass before Saint Anne. There are those who pass for work, those who are guests or pilgrims, those in a hurry, those who pass with trepidation or serenely. May everyone experience that here there are doors and hearts open to prayer, to listening, to charity!
In this regard, the Gospel that has just been proclaimed leads us to examine carefully our bond with the Lord, and therefore between ourselves. Jesus presents a clear alternative between God and wealth, asking us to take a clear and consistent position. “No slave can serve two masters”, therefore “You cannot serve God and wealth” (cf. Lk 16:13). This is not a contingent choice, like so many others, nor is it an option that can be revised over time, depending on circumstances. We must decide on a real way of life. It is a matter of choosing where to place our heart, of clarifying whom we sincerely love, whom we serve with dedication, and what is truly good for us.
This is why Jesus contrasts wealth with God: the Lord speaks in this way because he knows that we are indigent creatures, that our life is full of needs. Ever since we are born, poor, naked, we all need care and affection, a home, food, clothing. The thirst for wealth risks taking God’s place in our heart, when we believe that it is wealth that will save our lives, as the dishonest steward in the parable believes (cf. Lk 16:3-7). The temptation is this: to think that without God we could still live well, while without wealth we would be sad and afflicted by a thousand needs. When faced with the test of need, we feel threatened, but instead of asking for help with trust and sharing with fraternity, we are led to calculate, to accumulate, becoming suspicious and distrustful of others.
These thoughts turn our neighbour into a competitor, a rival, or someone to take advantage of. As the prophet Amos warns, those who want to make wealth a tool of domination, “buying the poor for silver” (Am 8:6), exploiting their poverty. On the contrary, God assigns the goods of creation to all. Our indigence as creatures therefore attests to a promise and a bond, of which the Lord himself takes care. The psalmist describes this provident style: God “looks far down on the heavens and the earth”; he “raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap” (Ps 113:6-7). This is how the good Father acts, always and towards everyone: not only towards those who are poor in earthly goods, but also towards that spiritual and moral poverty that afflicts the powerful as well as the weak, the destitute as well as the rich.
Indeed, the Word of the Lord does not pit people against each other in rival classes, but urges everyone to an inner revolution, a conversation that starts from the heart. Then our hands will open: to give, not to grab. Then our minds will open: to plan a better society, not to seek out bargains at the best price. As Saint Paul writes: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions” (1Tim 2:1-2). Today, in particular, the Church prays that the leaders of nations may be free from the temptation to use wealth against mankind, transforming it into a weapon that destroys peoples and in monopolies that humiliate workers. Those who serve God become free from wealth, but those who serve wealth remain its slave! Those who seek justice transform wealth into the common good; those who seek dominion transform the common good into the prey of their own greed.
The Sacred Scriptures shed light on this attachment to material goods, which confuses our heart and distorts our future.
Dear friends, I thank you because, in various ways, you cooperate to keep the community of this parish alive and also exercise a generous apostolate. I encourage you to persevere with hope in a time seriously threatened by war. Today, entire populations are being crushed by violence and even more so by a shameless indifference, which abandons them to a destiny of misery. Faced with these tragedies, we do not want to be submissive, but to proclaim with words and deeds that Jesus is the Saviour of the world, He who frees us from every evil. May his Spirit convert our hearts so that, nourished by the Eucharist, supreme treasure of the Church, we can become witnesses of charity and peace.
