Visions of Mary, if taken in the wrong spirit, can sow confusion and distance people from the Gospel, Pope Francis has said.
“The spirit of curiosity generates confusion and distances a person from the Spirit of wisdom, which brings peace”, said Pope Francis in his homily at morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta.
Curiosity, the Pope continued, impels us to want to feel that the Lord is here or rather there, or leads us to say: “But I know a visionary, who receives letters from Our Lady, messages from Our Lady”.
However, the Pope commented, “Our Lady is the Mother of everyone! And she loves all of us. She is not a postmaster, sending messages every day.”
Such responses can, “distance us from the Gospel, from the Holy Spirit, from peace and wisdom, from the glory of God, from the beauty of God.”
“Jesus says that the Kingdom of God does not come in a way that attracts attention: it comes by wisdom.
“Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus would say that she had always to stop herself before the spirit of curiosity,” he said.
“When she spoke with another sister and this sister was telling a story about the family, about people, sometimes the subject would change, and she would want to know the end of the story. But she felt that this was not the spirit of God, because it was a spirit of dispersion, of curiosity.
“The Kingdom of God is among us: do not seek strange things, do not seek novelties with this worldly curiosity. Let us allow the Spirit to lead us forward in that wisdom, which is like a soft breeze,” Pope Franics said.
Jesus tells his disciples not to “run in pursuit” of signs of his Second Coming, the pope said.
Pope Francis was reflecting on Luke’s gospel 17:20-25, in which the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God will come.
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