Pope Francis: Divine Mercy excludes no one
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis
held his weekly General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, during the
course of which he began a new chapter in his catecheses on mercy, one focusing
specifically on Christ’s fulfillment of the promise and action of mercy
revealed to humanity through God’s Chosen People, as expressed in the New
Testament.
The Holy Father said that the
Gospels show us a Jesus who, in every moment of His earthly life, made
mercy visible: meeting the crowds, announcing the Gospel, healing the sick,
drawing close to the forgotten, pardoning sinners.
The Pope went on to say that
the love Christ showed was a love open to all, a love which was fulfilled on
the Cross. “Jesus,” said Pope Francis in an emphatic departure from his
prepared remarks, “did not bring hatred, nor did He bring enmity: He brought
love – a great love – a heart open to all – to all of us – a love that saves.”
The Holy Father went on to
say that no one is excluded from God’s merciful love – and that He proved this
once and for all from the Cross. “We are all sinners,” he said in another
emphatic departure, “but we are all forgiven: we all have the possibility of
receiving this pardon, which is the mercy of God; we need not fear, therefore,
to recognize ourselves sinners, confess ourselves sinners, because every sin
was carried by the Son to the Cross.”
Pope Francis concluded with
an exhortation to frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation, saying that
it offers us the forgiveness that flows from the Cross and which renews
us in His grace, and inviting everyone everywhere in this Jubilee Year to embrace
the Gospel with greater vigor and be heralds of the Father’s mercy and
forgiveness.
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