Pope to new bishops: ‘Make mercy pastoral with thrill
of being loved first’
(Vatican Radio) Pope
Francis addressed newly-appointed bishops in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall on
Friday, reminding them of the thrill of being loved in advance by God and
exhorting them to ‘make mercy pastoral’.
The audience came at the end
of formation course for new bishops organized by the Congregation for Bishops
and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
Make mercy pastoral, for you
have experienced the thrill of being loved by God. That, according to Pope
Francis, is the mission of bishops, especially those who are new Pastors of the
Church.
He said the bishops had been
“fished, that is, caught by the love of God’s surprising mercy” and pointed
them to the example of biblical figures like Moses and Nathaniel who were loved
and known by God even before they realized it.
The Holy Father called this
“an admirable condescension”. He said, “How beautiful it is to let oneself
be transfixed by the loving knowledge of God. It consoles us to know that He
truly knows who we are and is not afraid of our littleness…, despite our
insufficiencies.”
The Pope said the Holy Door
of the Jubilee of Mercy is Christ, the only Door. Passing through that door, he
said, should help them live “a personal experience of gratitude, of
reconciliation, of total trust, of complete self-giving of one’s life without
limit to the Pastor of Pastors”.
“The most precious richness
you can bring from Rome at the beginning of your episcopal ministry is the
awareness of the mercy with which you have been seen and chosen.”
(Devin Sean Watkins)
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