Pope Francis asks Christians to be vigilant in the face of this devil’s attack

Pope Francis warned that the devil “always insinuates suspicion of dividing and excluding” and explained that the closure within the Church is also the result of the temptation of the evil one.

This closure leads to making “Christian communities places of separation and not of communion. The Holy Spirit doesn’t want closures; he wants openness, welcoming communities where there is room for everyone ”.

This was emphasized during his reflection before praying to the Angelus where he commented on the Gospel scene in which the disciples forbid a man to cast out demons in the name of Jesus.

The Lord reprimands them and invites them “not to hinder those who work for good, because they contribute to the realization of God’s plan”. He also warned them that “instead of dividing people into good and bad, we are all called to watch our hearts, so as not to succumb to evil and to scandalize others.”

“The disciples wanted to prevent a good job just because the person who did it was not in their group. They think they have “exclusivity over Jesus” and that they are the only ones allowed to work for the Kingdom of God ”.

It is the temptation to close oneself: “So they end up feeling favored and consider others as strangers, until they become hostile towards them. Each closure, in fact, puts people who do not think like us at a distance ”.

For this reason, “it is necessary to take care of the closure also in the Church”. The devil “tries cunning, and it can happen like these disciples, who exclude even those who had cast out the devil himself!”

“Sometimes we too, instead of being a humble and open community, can come across as ‘top of the class’ and have others at a distance; instead of trying to walk with everyone, we can show our “believer card” to judge and exclude.

The Pope encouraged us to ask for “the grace to overcome the temptation to judge and catalog, and may God preserve us from the ‘nest’ mentality of keeping us jealously in the small group of those who consider themselves good: the priest with his faithful, pastoral agents closed to each other so that no one infiltrates, movements and associations in their own particular charism, etc.

The risk, Pope Francis concluded, “is to be inflexible towards others and indulgent towards oneself”.