By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Opening a two-week Synod of Bishops on the family, Pope Francis warned participants against the temptations of hypocrisy, pride and greed, urging them instead to serve the church with ”freedom, creativity and hard work.”

”We can thwart God’s dream if we fail to let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit,” the pope said Oct. 5, during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. ”The Spirit gives us that wisdom which surpasses knowledge, and enables us to work generously with authentic freedom and humble creativity.”

Pope Francis raises the Book of the Gospels as he celebrates a Mass to open the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 5. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Pope Francis’ homily drew on the day’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew (21: 33-43), in which Jesus describes the people of…