Spanish bishop calls on laity to “overcome idolatry of comfort”

Madrid, Spain, May 30, 2004 / 22:00 pm

In order to mark the celebration of Lay Apostolate and Catholic Action Day on the feast of Pentecost, Bishop Jesus Garcia Burillo of Avila, Spain, called on the laity to be docile to the Holy Spirit in today’s world in order to overcome the idolatry of comfort.

“In today’s world, the Holy Spirit urges you to deeply live the virtue of hope, to overcome the idolatry of comfort, unrestrained consumerism, the exclusive demanding of one’s own rights, and the neglect of those most in need.  Only faith in Jesus Christ, a faith and a life in conformity with Gospel values, can bring about a radical change in the current circumstances,” the bishop said.

In his pastoral letter entitled, “Builders of Hope,” Bishop Garcia Burillo expressed dismay that sometimes “God and moral values are not given importance and are sometimes even scorned and considered useless and obsolete.”

Likewise he pointed out that many people, “influenced by the cultural fads of the day, have embraced religious indifference, secularization, practical atheism, moral and ethical relativism.  They live as if God did not exist.”

Nevertheless, “overcoming fear and all obstacles, we feel we are sent to the world” to “announce hope” to people. “We are urged on by the power of the Spirit to break down indifference, estrangement from God, and the agnosticism and disbelief which sometimes marks the lives of many people.”