LOOK
The local leader of an armed group that is dedicated to the extortion of small rural producers and all types of merchants, has bought houses and land, not because they are offered to him, but because he likes them and demands that they be sold to him; He doesn’t care what price they put on him in millions; He pays immediately in cash. What interests you is having more and more possessions. And everyone who knows his background says that he went to the United States when he was young, but was expelled from there several times for being a vagabond, a drunk, and a drug addict. He returned to his town without money; He joined regional criminal groups, and now he rides in very nice vehicles, organizes loud parties and feels very powerful. He has become rich with mafia money, not because of his honest and constant work.
It is common knowledge that different cartels in the country have influenced the electoral processes, putting a lot of money into the campaigns, so that the authorities that they later manage remain. It is very difficult to verify this, but when the river sounds… Years ago, during the campaigns for municipal presidents, one of the candidates asked to speak with me. Among other things, I told him that several people told me that he was supported by armed criminal groups; he flatly denied it. He emerged triumphant and, a few months later, he confided to me that he had had to negotiate with them, because otherwise they would not let him govern. How many candidates and leaders have they murdered, because they do not accept their conditions! The federal government denies that this happens, but we have other data. Mafia money is very powerful, and since they have heavy-caliber weapons, woe to those who do not bow down to their demands!
Bishops of Sicily and southern Italy suspended the requirement that there must be godfathers at baptism and confirmation, because parents chose Italian mafia bosses as godfathers, as a way of protecting themselves, without taking into account their lifestyle. corrupted by drug trafficking and the murders they commit to have money.
There may also be mafia money in business, political and governmental power groups. As a Church, we are not exempt. They make alliances to earn more money, to have more goods, to achieve certain positions. It is very difficult to resist the temptation to get rich in an immoral way!
DISCERN
Pope Francis said this to the gangsters: “To the mafia men and women: please change your life, convert, stop doing evil, we pray for you, convert. I ask it on my knees and for your own good. This life you live now will not give you pleasure, It will not give you joy, it will not give you happiness. The power, the money that you have now, from so many dirty businesses, from so many mafia crimes, is bloody, it is bloody power and you will not be able to take it to the afterlife. Convert, there is still time to not end up in hell, which is what awaits you if you continue on this path. You have had a father, a mother, think of them. Cry a little and be converted” (21-Mil-2014).
On his visit to Mexico, he told us:
“Before God they will always have their hands stained with blood, even if their pockets are full of sordid money and their conscience is anesthetized.”
ACT
Instead of just lamenting and denouncing these events, let’s do everything we can to educate ourselves and educate ourselves in the value of honest work, even if we are not very rich. Having a clear conscience, living according to the Word of God, is worth more than all the money in the world.