From Vatican Insider:

Francis arrives after having completed the traditional procession from the church of Sant’Anselmo to the Aventine. In his homily, which precedes the rite of imposition of ashes on the head – the first to receive them is the same Pontiff at the hands of the Slovak Cardinal Jozef Tomko, titular of the Basilica – Bergoglio exhorts us to find “the course of life”, freeing ourselves “from the clutches of consumerism and the snares of selfishness, from always wanting more, from never being satisfied, and from a heart closed to the needs of the poor”.

This is what happens when you live for “possessions and wellbeing”, for success, for power. ” if we live for them, they will become idols that enslave us, sirens that charm us and then cast us adrift,” the Pope warns. He then relaunched the “short and heartfelt message” that God addressed to all believers at the beginning of Lent: “Return to me”.

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