The disciples, “do not find their joy in money, power, or other material goods,” said the pope, but rather in “the gifts they receive every day from God: life, creation, brothers and sisters, and so on.”
These gifts, he explained, “are the gifts of life,” and disciples “are content to share even the goods they possess, because they live according to the logic of God.”
A disciple of Jesus Christ will “accept the paradox of the Beatitudes,” said Pope Francis, meaning that “they declare that those who are poor, who lack many goods and recognize this, are blessed, that is, happy.”
This is in contrast to the “worldly mindset” that possessions, wealth, and other things lead to happiness, he said.
“Jesus, on the contrary, declares worldly success to be a failure, since it is based on a selfishness that inflates and then leaves the heart empty,” said the pope. The disciples, when faced with this “paradox of the Beatitudes,” had to become aware that they must enter into the logic of God, not the other way around.
Entering into the logic of God “requires a journey, sometimes worrisome, but always accompanied by joy,” Pope Francis said. “Because the disciple of Jesus is joyful, with the joy that comes from Jesus.”
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