Pope Francis is warning against the danger of seeking God only for our interests, just as we can use people "first and foremost [for] the satisfaction of our needs."
We can thus in some sense exploit our faith, just as we exploit people, the Holy Father explained.
The Pope spoke of this in his reflection on the August 1 Gospel, from John 6.
This temptation, the Pope explained, "drives us to seek God for our own use, to solve problems, to have, thanks to Him, what we cannot obtain on our own, for our interests."
"At the centre of this immature faith is not God, but our own needs," Francis said.
It is good to present our needs to God, he clarified, "but the Lord, who acts far beyond our expectations, wishes to live with us first of all in a relationship of love."
Jesus will "purify our faith," the Pope said. "We are not able to do this on our own. But the Lord wants a loving relationship with us: Before the things we receive and do, there is Him to love. There is a relationship with Him that goes beyond the logic of interest and calculation."
The Holy Father noted how we can have the same temptation in our human relationships.
After praying the midday Angelus, the Pope joked about the weather:
