Pope Francis: recognize sinfulness to receive God's
mercy
(Vatican Radio) Only if
our hearts are open and we recognize ourselves as sinners can we receive God’s
mercy. That’s the message Pope Francis imparted to the faithful gathered for
the morning Mass Thursday at the Santa Marta guesthouse.
Commenting on the First
Reading from the Book of Jeremiah, the Pope stresses in his Homily that
"God is always faithful, for he cannot deny himself" while the people
do not listen to His word. Jeremiah therefore tells us the "many things
that God has done to attract the hearts of the people," but, the Pope
adds, the people remain unfaithful.
If the heart is hardened
and closed, God’s mercy does not enter
"This unfaithfulness of
God's people,” warns the Pope, is “also ours.” It is “our own
infidelity [which] hardens the heart, closes the heart!"
"It does not allow [us
to hear] the voice of the Lord who, as a loving father, always asks us to open
ourselves to His mercy and His love. In the Psalms, the Pope adds, we all pray
together: 'Hear now the voice of God. Do not harden your hearts! ' The
Lord always speaks with us in this way, also with the tenderness of a father
who says: 'Return to me with all your heart, for I am compassionate and
merciful.’ But when the heart is hardened, you don’t understand this.
God’s mercy can only be understood when you are able to open your heart to let
it enter. "
Referring to the passage from
Luke’s Gospel where Jesus is confronted by learned men who had studied the
Scriptures, Pope Francis says they were "teachers of the law who knew
theology, but they were very, very closed" . The crowd, however, "was
amazed," and "had faith in Jesus! Their hearts were open:
imperfect, sinful, but open hearts."
Ask forgiveness, do not
judge others
But these theologians, adds
the Pope, "had a closed attitude! They always sought an explanation so as
not to understand the message of Jesus." "They asked him for a
sign from heaven. Always closed! It was Jesus who had to justify
his actions."
"This is the story, the
story of this failed fidelity. The story of closed hearts, of hearts that do
not let in the mercy of God, which have forgotten the word forgiveness:
'Forgive me Lord!' - simply because they do not [see themselves as] sinners
[but see themselves as] judges of others. A story lasting centuries.” And
Jesus, the Pope continues, explains this failed fidelity very clearly - to
combat the discourse of such hypocrites: ‘He who is not with me is
against me.' “It’s clear! Or are you faithful, with your heart open to God who
is faithful to you, or you are against Him: 'He who is not with me is against
me!'"
Faithfulness to God begins
with recognizing our sinfulness
But is there room here for
middle ground, for "negotiations?" asks the Pope. The
answer, he says, lies in confessing to being a sinner! If you acknowledge
that you are a sinner, “the heart opens and God’s mercy is allowed to enter and
you begin to be faithful."
"We ask the Lord for the
grace of fidelity. And the first step on this path towards fidelity is to
admit you are a sinner,” adds Pope Francis. “If you do not feel sinful, you
have begun badly. We ask for grace so that our hearts do not harden - that they
are open to God's mercy - and for the grace of faithfulness. And when we find
ourselves unfaithful, for the grace to ask for forgiveness."
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