Pope: we must memorize God’s beautiful deeds in our
lives
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis
on Thursday urged Christians always to memorize the way and circumstances in
which God has been present in our lives, saying this helps to strengthen our
faith. His words came during his homily at Mass celebrated at the Santa Marta
residence.
Taking his inspiration from
the day’s readings, the Pope reflected on the need for Christians to look back
and store in their memories all the key moments and signs of God’s presence in
their lives. He said we must memorize both the beautiful things done by God as
well as the obstacles and rejections because God accompanies us and is not
frightened off by our wicked deeds.
“We must look back to see how
God has saved us, follow – with our hearts and minds – this path with its
memories and in this way arrive at Jesus’s side. It’s the same Jesus, who in
the greatest moment of his life – Holy Thursday and Good Friday, in the (Last)
Supper - gave us his Body and his Blood and said to us ‘Do this in memory of
me.’ In memory of Jesus. To remember how God saved us.
Pope Francis went on to explain
how the Church describes the Sacrament of the Eucharist as a “memorial,” just
as in the Bible the book of Deuteronomy is ‘the book of the Memory of Israel.’
And we must do the same in our personal lives, he said.
“It’s good for the Christian
heart to memorize my journey, my personal journey: just like the Lord who
accompanied me up to here and held me by the hand. And the times I said
to our Lord: No! Go away! I don’t want you! Our Lord respects (our
wishes). He is respectful. But we must memorize our past and be a
memorial of our own lives and our own journey. We must look back and
remember and do it often. ‘At that time God gave me this grace and I replied in
that way, I did this or that… He accompanied me.’ And in this way we arrive at
a new encounter, an encounter of gratitude.”
Concluding his homily, the
Pope said our hearts should give rise to a sense of gratitude towards Jesus who
never stops accompanying us ‘in our history.’ How many times, he
admitted, have we closed the door in his face, how many times have we pretended
not to see him and not believe that He is by our side. How many times have we
denied his salvation… But He was always there.
“Memory makes us draw closer
to God. The memory of that work which God carried out in us, in this
recreation, in this regeneration, that takes us beyond the ancient splendour
that Adam had in the first creation. I give you this simple advice: Memorize
it! What’s my life been like, what was my day like today or what has this
past year been like? (It’s all about) memory. What has my relationship
with the Lord been like? Our memories of the beautiful and great things
that the Lord has carried out in the lives of each one of us.”
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