Pope Francis warned of the dangers of attachment to money in his October 11 Sunday Angelus address.
Commenting on the day’s Gospel reading at Mass (Mk. 10:17-30), the Pope reflected on the rich young man and said that “this youth has a heart divided between two lords: God and money, and he goes away sad. This shows us that faith and attachment to riches cannot coexist.”
“The youth did not allow himself to be conquered by the loving gaze of Jesus and thus he wasn’t able to change,” he continued. “Only in welcoming with humble gratitude the Lord’s love do we free ourselves from the seduction of idols and the blindness of our illusions. Money, pleasure and success dazzle, but later they disappoint: they promise life but cause death. The Lord asks of us a detachment from these false riches to enter into true life, a full life, that is authentic and luminous.”