To avoid living like pagans, Christians must guard against the temptation of "slipping toward worldliness and power" and of seeking Jesus only to fulfill their material interests, said Pope Francis. "This is the daily temptation for Christians, for all of us who make up the church," the pope said at his morning Mass April 20 in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. After the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the people in the day's Gospel account (Jn 6:22-29) seek Jesus not "because of the religious awe that leads one to worship God," the pope said, but "for their material interests." When one tries to profit from following Jesus -- an attitude frequently shown in the Gospels -- then one "risks not understanding" and even obscuring the "true mission of Jesus," said the pope. "Many people follow Jesus for their own interests," the pope said. "Even among his apostles: the sons of Zebedee, who wanted to be prime minister and finance minister, sought power. That fervor to bring Good News to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed and to proclaim a year of favor, becomes obscured," he said. "It is lost and it is transformed into something of power."
Born during the turbulent era of the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan rose above hardship and a lack of formal schooling to become a profound vessel of Christ’s mercy. After losing her father at a young age and working through her youth as a kitchen maid and nurse, her life radically changed one freezing night when she encountered a blind, paralyzed elderly woman with nowhere to go. Jeanne carried the woman back to her own home, placed her in her own bed, and began a lifelong mission of radical hospitality. This act of profound love blossomed into the Little Sisters of the Poor , a thriving community dedicated to sheltering and honoring the destitute elderly. Despite later facing heavy trials—including being unjustly sidelined and stripped of her leadership by a controlling chaplain—Jeanne accepted her obscurity and exile with a joyful spirit, resting her complete trust in God's hidden providence until her death in 1879. In our daily lives, Saint Jeanne Jugan invites us to lo...