Idols

6 de junio, 2013. (Romereports.com) During his daily morning Mass at the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta, the Pope talked about the dangers of having idols. Reflecting on the Gospel, he talked about the moment when Jesus is asked which one of the ten commandments is the most important. 

When Jesus responds, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and  mind,' the Pope said  it reminds us about the subtle yet real dangers of idolatry. 

POPE FRANCIS “The Apostle James, when he says, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God. He begins by saying: 'Adulterers!'. He yells this out to us and he uses that word: adulterers. Why? Because whoever is a 'friend' of the world is an idolater, a person who is not faithful to the love of God! The true path is not distant. It advances and it moves forward in the Kingdom of God. It's a path of loyalty which resembles that of married love.”
The Pope then added that idols are represented in different ways, depending on one's personality or way of life. He then added that the first step is to pray to God, so that one may leave idols behind. 

PARTIAL HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio) “It’s not enough to say: 'But I believe in God, God is the only God.' That’s fine, but how do you live this out in your life’s journey? Because we can say, 'The Lord is the only God, there is no other', but then live as if He was not the only God and have other deities at our disposal ... There is a danger of ' idolatry: idolatry, which is brought to us through the spirit of the world. And in this Jesus was clear: the spirit of the world, no. At the Last Supper he asks the Father to defend us from the spirit of the world, because the spirit of the world leads us to idolatry.

Idolatry is subtle…we all have our hidden idols" and 'the path of life to follow, to not be far from the kingdom of God" involves 'discovering our hidden idols.'  “We have hid them in our saddle ... But we have to look for them and we have to destroy them," because to follow God the only path is that of a love based on "loyalty":

Loyalty demands we drive out our idols, that we uncover them: they are hidden in our personality, in our way of life. But these are hidden idols mean that we are not faithful in love. The Apostle James, when he says, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God, begins by saying: 'Adulterers!'. He gives out to us, but with that adjective: adulterers. Why? Because whoever is 'friend' of the world is an idolater, is not faithful to the love of God! The path that is not distant, that advances, moves forward in the Kingdom of God, is a path of loyalty which resembles that of married love. "

With our small or not so small idolatries how is it possible not to be faithful "to a love so great?". To do this, you need to trust in Christ, who is "total loyalty" and who "loves us so much."