File photo of one of
Pope Francis' General Audiences (VATICAN MEDIA Divisione Foto)
Pope Francis: Have we strayed? Our loving Father waits
for us
In Pope Francis' prepared catechesis for the weekly General
Audience, which was not held due to his ongoing convalescence, he recalls the
parable of the Prodigal Son and reassures us faithful that no matter how far we
have strayed, our loving Father waits for us with open arms.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"We can have hope because we know the Father is waiting
for us..."
As Pope Francis recovers in the Vatican after being
discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Sunday, 23 March, he offered
this comforting reminder in the text he had prepared for
the Wednesday General Audience, which he asked the Holy See
Press Office to publish.
Since his medical team discharged the Pope, recommending two
months of rest for a proper convalescence, the Press Office continues to
distribute the catecheses prepared for the Audience, as it did during his
hospitalization.
The Prodigal Son
In his catechesis, focusing on encounters in Jesus' life,
the Pope reflected on the parable of the Prodigal Son, revealing God’s
boundless mercy as a father welcomes his wayward child home.
The Gospel, Pope Francis underscores, offers a message of
hope, "because it tells us that no matter how or where we’ve gotten lost,
God always comes looking for us!"
“No matter how or where we’ve gotten lost, God always
comes looking for us!”
"Maybe we’ve gone astray like a sheep that wandered off
the path to graze, or fell behind due to exhaustion," he acknowledges, but
this does not prevent or impede the Lord seeking us.
When we have made mistakes, such experiences, Pope Francis
recognizes, often "give rise to a distorted belief within us—that we can
only be in a relationship as servants, as if we have to atone for some guilt or
as if true love doesn’t exist."
What true love looks like
"Only those who truly love us," he suggests,
"can free us from this false view of love," noting, "in our
relationship with God, we experience just that."
The Pope also discusses the lessons faithful can learn
regarding the older son, who, the Pope observes, always stayed home with the
father, yet was distant from him.
Leaves the door open for us
"Yet when you remain in a relationship
unwillingly," Pope Francis warns, "you begin to harbor anger, which
sooner or later explodes." Paradoxically, he points out, it’s the older
son who ends up at risk of being left outside, because he doesn’t share in the
father’s joy.
Regardless, the Holy Father reminds that his father also
goes out to meet him, without scolding or lecturing him. "He just wants
him to feel loved," and therefore, the Pope notes, "invites him in
and leaves the door open."
"That door remains open for us, too," the Holy
Father reassures, "And this is precisely the reason for our hope: we can
have hope because we know the Father is waiting for us, sees us from afar, and
always leaves the door open."
“That door remains open for us, too”
Pope Francis concludes by calling on all faithful to ask
themselves: "where are we in this beautiful story? And let us ask God the
Father for the grace to find our way home, too."
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/pope-francis-general-audience-16-april-2025.html
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét