Pope Francis sends video message to conference in
Argentina
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis
has sent a video-message to the participants of the “Manos Abiertas” [Open
Hands] Encounter taking place in Santa Fe, Argentina.
The voluntary association was
founded in 1992 by Father Ángel Rossi, SJ, with the motto “To love and to
serve.” The theme of this year’s meeting is “Mercy: A journey from the heart to
the hands.”
In his video-message, Pope
Francis brought up two stories from the New Testament: The parable of the Good
Samaritan, and the story of the raising of the son of the Widow of Nain.
“The heart, which in the Good
Samaritan is like that of Jesus, was touched by misery: The misery he saw
there, the misery of that widowed mother whom Jesus saw, that misery of pain
and the misery of the beaten man who was seen by the Samaritan,” – Pope Francis
said – “The heart is united with the misery of another and that's mercy.”
The Pope said mercy is not
the same thing as having pity.
“When the misery of the other
comes into my heart, I feel mercy; which is not the same as to have pity, pity
is another feeling,” – the Holy Father said – “I can feel pity when I see a
wounded animal or such a situation, but mercy is another feeling:
It is when the misery of another, or a situation of pain or misery, gets
into my heart, and I permit the situation to touch my heart. I say this:
It is an outward journey, the journey of misery to the heart. And this is the
path: It is not mercy if it is not of the heart, a heart wounded by the misery
of another.”
He also said mercy is not
mere philanthropy.
“It is distinct from having
good feelings; this is not mercy, it is having good feelings,” – Pope Francis
explained – “It is distinct from hands-on philanthropy, which is not mercy: It
is good, it is good, philanthropy is not a bad thing, but it is not mercy,
which is another thing. Mercy is the journey of misery to my heart, taken up by
my heart, that moves my heart; and sometimes it moves so much that the heart
becomes like a compass at the North Pole, and does not know where to stop,
because of what it feels.”
The Pope then explained how
to tell the difference between mercy and pity.
“First you must ask for the
grace to have mercy; it is a grace, and we must ask it of the Lord,” he said.
“The only way to have mercy
is to yourself recognize your own sin, and be forgiven by the Lord;
through recognizing sin and forgiveness,” – Pope Francis continued. –
“You can be merciful only if you truly feel that you have received the mercy of
the Lord, otherwise you cannot be merciful … and having received mercy, you
will be merciful.”
The Holy Father said this is
the return journey, “from the heart to the hands.”
“Stop torturing yourself over
what wounded your heart, both by others and yourself,” Pope Francis said. “Let
yourself receive mercy and begin the return trip, and with your hands give
mercy to others, spreading mercy and love.”
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