Pope at Mass in Bulgaria: God
calls, God surprises, God loves
 |
| Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Prince Alexander I Square, Sofia, Bulgaria on May 5, 2019 (Vatican Media) |
The last public event of Pope Francis’ first day in the
Bulgarian capital Sofia was an evening Mass in Prince Alexander I Square.
By Robin Gomes
In his homily at Sunday Mass, Pope Francis reflected on the
day’s Gospel episode where Jesus reveals Himself again to His disciples at the
Sea of Tiberias after His resurrection. The episode he said reminds us of
three amazing things that are part of our lives as disciples, namely, God
calls, God surprises, God loves.
God calls
The Pope pointed out that it was on the shore of the Sea of
Galilee that Jesus first called Peter to follow him. But now,
burdened with pain and guilt and weighed down by suffering, disappointment and
betrayal on the death of their Master, Peter and several disciples of Jesus
were going back to their former life of fishing.
The Pope said that the Lord is aware of the subtle and
dangerous temptation to be disheartened and give up, wanting to take back what
we had decided to leave behind. This is the tomb psychology leads
us to indulge in a soothing sense of self-pity that, like a moth, eats away at
all our hope. Faith thus wears down and degenerates into small-mindedness
making us think everything is normal.
It was at this very moment of Peter’s failure that Jesus
appears, starts over, patiently comes to him and calls him “Simon”. The
Lord does not expect to encounter people without problems, disappointments,
sins or limitations. He himself confronted sin and disappointment in
order to encourage all men and women to persevere. In Jesus, God always
offers us another chance. When Jesus’s call directs our lives, our hearts grow
young.
God surprises
The Pope went on to explain how the Lord of surprises
invites us not only to be surprised but also to do surprising things.
Seeing their empty nets, the Lord tells them to do something odd: to fish by
day. He revives their trust by urging them once more to take a risk, not to
give up on anyone or anything.
The Pope said that the Lord breaks down the paralyzing
barriers by filling us with the courage needed to overcome the suspicion,
mistrust and fear.
God loves
The third amazing thing that God does is He loves because
his language is love. Just as He asked Peter, He also asks us to learn
this language of love. Admitting his weakness, Peter understands that to
love means to stop putting himself at the centre and to make Jesus, and not
himself, the starting point.
“Being a Christian,” the Pope said, “is a summons to realize
that God’s love is greater than all our shortcomings and sins.” One of
our great disappointments and difficulties today, the Pope said, comes not from
knowing that God is love. “God is love that loves, that bestows itself, that
calls and surprises.”
In casting their nets on the right side of the boat,
the Pope pointed out, we see the miracle of God, who makes of our lives
works of art, if only we let ourselves to be led by his love. The Pope
said today we are called to walk with him towards the future, knowing that,
whether we succeed or fail, he will always be there to keep telling us to cast
our nets.
The Pope said that a Church that is young in spirit is
inviting us to testify to the love of Christ by striving for the common good.
This love, he said, enables us to serve the poor and become protagonists of the
revolution of charity and service, capable of resisting the pathologies of
consumerism and superficial individualism. The Pope concluded urging
Bulgarians not to be afraid of becoming saints and holy saying, “it will take
away none of your energy, vitality or joy.”
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