Do Words Have Any Meaning?

This might surprise you, but the Holy Father gave another homily today.  This might surprise you, but it contained another round of condemnation for certain Catholics the Pope sorta, kinda, doesn't really identify.In all seriousness, I can't get comfortable with the imprecision of his language in most of his ad hoc remarks, but especially today.  Whom does he mean?  What does he mean? In  the Zenit article above, we read the following.  I add a few emphases:-----------Feeling spiritually comfortable is a "state of sin," Pope Francis cautioned today during his morning homily at the Casa Santa Marta as he reflected on the problem of lukewarmness. As reported by Vatican Radio, the Pope drew his homily reflections from the readings of the day taken from Revelation Chapter 3 and the Gospel according to St. Luke on the encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus the tax collector.In the first reading, he noted, the Lord asks Christians in Laodicea to convert because they have become "lukewarm." They live a "comfortable spirituality." They think: "I do what I can, but I am at peace and do not want to be disturbed with strange things."Pope Francis noted that people who “live well think nothing is missing: I go to Mass on Sundays, I pray a few times, I feel good, I am in God's grace, I'm rich" and "I do not need anything, I'm fine." This "state of mind," he warned, "is a state of sin, feeling spiritually comfortable is a state of sin."The Lord has harsh words for people like this, he said: "Because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth." Then, he added, "there is a second call" to "those who live by appearances, Christians of appearances." These believe they are alive but they are dead. And the Lord asks them to be vigilant. "Appearances," the Pope said, "are these Christians' shroud: they are dead." And the Lord "calls them to conversion.""Am I one of these Christians of appearances? Am I alive inside, do I have a spiritual life? Do I hear the Holy Spirit, do I listen to the Holy Spirit, do I  move forward, or ...? But, if everything looks good, I have nothing to reproach myself about: I have a good family, people do not gossip about me, I have everything I need, I married in church ...I am 'in the grace of God', I am alright."Appearances! Christians of appearance ... they are dead! Instead [we must] seek something alive within ourselves, and with memory and vigilance, reinvigorate this so we can move forward. Convert: from appearances to reality. From being neither hot nor cold to fervor." [...]_______________Certainly the call to resist lukewarmness is good, and we all need to hear it.  Perhaps the feeling that we don't need to grow in holiness is the best sign of needing conversion.  But the way these things are phrased, in light of his statements and actions during his brief pontificate, sure makes it seem that Francis can read minds and hearts to specifically call out Catholics who practice their faith in a way he calls "mere fashion".  Feeling spiritually comfortable is a "state of sin"?  Is that true in Heaven, too?Marrying in the Church makes me a Catholic of appearances, but spiritually dead?  No, of course not.  But why that particular example, coming just after the Synod against on the Family and its despicable intermediate relatio?  Being in the state of Grace doesn't mean "I am alright"?  Well, of course, in one sense yes, and in another sense no.In sum, the homily seems just a mishmash of typical themes of Francis homilies.  Somebody who hasn't been paying attention, or who only reads them occasionally, or who doesn't go to church regularly, or who isn't Catholic, can readily see them as typical Gospel reflections, delivered a little simply.But as a Catholic attached to the Church's tradition, I interpret them quite differently, and I believe I have reason to do so.  My nose is once again being popped with that rolled up newspaper.  "Bad trad!"  No, you say, you are overreacting!  Maybe.  But I am a Catholic who married in Church.  I pray that I am in a state of Grace, or that God restore me to it.  I am grateful for the spiritual bounty I have at my ready disposal-- the Mass, the beauty of the liturgy, the Catholic community where I worship, the ancient and unchangeable teachings of the faith, the love of God.  Is the Pope insinuating that my whole spiritual life is a mere pretense, a whimsical fashion of an out-of-date piety?  Dear Holy Father, am I a Catholic of appearances? Am I dead?Was the Church wrong for 1929 years, until Vatican II?  If so, how many well-meaning souls have been lost!  Why am I not Lutheran, or some other kind of Christian whose only irreformable doctrine is that the Catholic Church must be wrong?Was the Church wrong for 1980 years, until Francis was brave enough to modify doctrines?What happened on the plains of Caesarea Philippi?  What about the promise that the gates of hell should not prevail?Wow, I am getting overdramatic.  Sorry.  This homily isn't the worst of them by a long shot.  Just the pebble that started this mini-landslide of a post.  Peace.