Pope Francis - "Church Teaching Can't Open People To God's Love"???

In yesterday's homily, Pope Francis said that "courses in yoga, zen meditation, even extensive studies in church teaching and spirituality can never free people enough to open their hearts to God and His love" - quoting from Catholic News Service.

Say what????   Of course yoga and zen won't lead anyone to God's love; in fact they'll do just the opposite for these lead to idolatry.  But to mention these in the same breath as church tradition is to place all three on the same level.  To do so is a great disservices to the truth and will cause much confusion and even disdain of the development of Catholic intellect.

The quote goes on.  "Only the Holy Spirit can move the heart and make it docile to the Lord.."  Well, without a modicum of knowledge of Church tradition, how does one discern the action of the Holy Spirit from that of something else?  Does not the teaching and spirituality of the Catholic Church originate from the Holy Spirit and God's own word?

Why the setting up of false dichotomies between this "movement" and the Sacred Tradition of the Church?  Only harm and confusion can arise from this.  Pray for Holy Mother Church.

False Dichotomes Between Faith And Intellect, Being Joyful And Being Serious

In his morning homily yesterday the Holy Father described what he believes are two groups into which humanity can be classed.  One group is those open to the Holy Spirit and docile to His movements, who move by faith.  The second group puzzles me a bit.  While he says they are obtuse to God, he says they are so because "everything was about the mind, the intellect..no love of beauty, no harmony".

I know some folks who are quite hostile to God.  Trust me when I say that their hostility to God has nothing at all to do with their intellects.  More often than not, their sensuality has deadened not only faith but any intellectual prowess they might have had.  It is Our Lady of Fatima herself who told the three children that more souls go to hell due to sins of the flesh more than anything else; I would assume that includes any intellectual pride.

Since when are "intellect" and "openness to the Holy Spirit" mutually exclusive as the Pope seems to be implying?  Since we are created in the image and likeness of God primarily through intellect and will, I would think that there is no "openness to the Holy Spirit" without some modicum of intellectual rigor.  I would think that there can be no real "love of beauty" without a sound intellect to inform us of the nature of true beauty.

He then said, "when there is a lot of seriousness, the spirit of God is lacking".  What does that mean?  Since when does a serious outlook preclude the presence of the Spirit of God?  I might think that the Spirit of God might bring about a more serious outlook on life and the eternal realities surrounding us.  True joy and seriousness are not mutually contradictory.  That assumes we understand that real joy has nothing to do with posing in selfies while wearing clown noses.  Our Lord Himself always displayed the fruits of the Spirit, did He not?  Does that include the time known as His Passion?  I would think so.

These artificial dichotomies that appear in the Pope's remarks seem confusing and divisive rather than helpful.