Pope warns against placing faith in reported apparitions

Casa Santa Marta

During his homily at morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta yesterday ( 14 November), Pope Francis warned against the “spirit of curiosity,” in remarks directed at those who place their faith in extraordinary claims and in reported apparitions.

Commenting on the day’s reading from the Book of Wisdom, the Pope said that the Holy Spirit brings peace, unity, and serenity. This, he said, contrasts sharply with the spirit of curiosity, which arises “when we want to be the masters of the projects of God, of the future.”

The Pope rejected the attitude of those who say: “But I know a visionary, who receives letters from Our Lady.” The Virgin Mary loves all mankind, the Holy Father said. “She is not a postmaster, sending messages every day.”

The longing for extraordinary messages and signs, the Pope said, 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.”

“ ‘The Kingdom of God is among you,’ said Jesus, and it is this action of the Holy Spirit, which gives us wisdom and peace. The Kingdom of God does not come in (a state of) confusion, just as God did not speak to the prophet Elijah in the wind, in the storm (but) he spoke in the soft breeze, the breeze of wisdom.”

“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," he said. "This is the Spirit of the Kingdom of God, of which Jesus speaks. So be it.”

Source: VIS