Pope Francis: Do not let the devil light the "fire" of war in your heart

People cannot call themselves Christians if they sow the seeds of war, said Pope Francis.

Finding guilt and condemning others is "the devil's temptation to wage war," the pope said in his homily during the morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae on January 9, the same day he gave his annual speech to the diplomats accredited to the Vatican.

If people are "war sowers" in their families, communities and workplaces, then they cannot be Christians, according to Vatican News.

Celebrating mass in the chapel of his residence, the pope preached on the first reading of the day from John's first letter. The passage stressed how important it is to "remain in God" by following his commandment to love God by loving others. "This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother," says a verse.

"Where the Lord is, there is peace," said Francis in his homily.

“It is he who makes peace; it is the Holy Spirit who sends to bring peace within us, "he said, because only by remaining in the Lord can there be peace in one's heart.

But how do you "stay in God?" asked the pope. Loving each other, he said. “This is the question; this is the secret of peace. "

The pope warned against thinking that war and peace are only external to themselves, which occur only "in that country, in that situation".

"Even in these days when many fires of war are lit, the mind immediately goes there (to distant places) when we talk about peace," he said.

While it is important to pray for world peace, he said, peace must begin in one's heart.

People should reflect on their hearts - whether they are "at peace" or "anxious" or always "at war, striving to have more, to dominate, to be listened to".

"If we don't have peace in our hearts, how do we think there will be peace in the world?" churches.
"If there is a war in my heart," he said, "there will be war in my family, there will be war in my neighborhood and there will be war in my workplace."

Jealousy, envy, gossip and bad talk about others create "war" between people and "destroy", he said.

The pope asked people to see how they speak and if what they say is animated by a "spirit of peace" or by the "spirit of war".

Speaking or acting in such a way as to hurt or cloud others indicates "the Holy Spirit is not there," he said.

“And this happens to each of us. The immediate reaction is to condemn the other, "he said, and this" is the temptation of the devil to make war. "

When the devil is able to light this war fire in his heart, “he is happy; he must not do other work "because" it is we who work to destroy each other, it is we who pursue war, destruction ", said the pope.

People first destroy themselves by removing love from their hearts, he said, and then destroy others because of this "seed that the devil has placed in us".