EXTRAORDINARY JUBILEE OF
MERCY
JUBILEE AUDIENCE POPE
FRANCIS
Saint
Peter's Square Saturday, 30 April 2016
Mercy
and reconciliation
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Good morning!
Today I would like to
reflect with you on an important aspect of mercy: reconciliation. God has never
failed to offer his forgiveness to men and women: his mercy is felt from
generation to generation. Often we believe that our sins distance the Lord from
us. In reality, in sinning, we may distance ourselves from him, but, seeing us
in danger, he tries all the harder to find us. God never gives in to the
possibility that a person could stay estranged from his love, provided,
however, that he find in him or her some sign of repentance for the evil done.
“Be reconciled to God!” (2
Cor 5:20): the cry that the Apostle Paul addressed to the early Christians in
Corinth, today applies to us all with the same vigour and conviction. Let us be
reconciled to God! This Jubilee of mercy is a time of reconciliation for everyone.
Many people would like to be reconciled to God but they don’t know how to do
it, or they don’t feel worthy, or they don’t want to admit it, not even to
themselves. The Christian community can and must foster the sincere return to
God for those who feel this yearning. Especially those who carry out the
“ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18) are called to be instruments docile
to the Holy Spirit, for where one has abandoned sin mercy can abound (cf. Rm
5:20). No one should be separated from God because of obstacles put there by
mankind! And — I want to underline this — that also goes for confessors. It’s
valid for them: please, don’t put up obstacles for people who want to be
reconciled to God. The confessor must be a father! He stands in the place of
God the Father! The confessor must welcome those who come to him to be
reconciled to God and help them on the journey to this reconciliation that we
are making. It is a very beautiful ministry: not a torture chamber or an
interrogation room. No. It is the place where the Father receives, welcomes and
forgives this person. Let us be reconciled to God! All of us! May this Holy
Year be a positive time to rediscover our need for the tenderness and closeness
of the Father, to return to him with all our heart.
The experience of
reconciliation to God allows us to discover the necessity of other forms of
reconciliation: in families, in interpersonal relationships, in ecclesial
communities, as well as in social international relations. Someone recently
said to me that in the world there are more enemies than friends, and I believe
he is right. Instead, let us build bridges of reconciliation among us,
beginning in the family. How many siblings have argued and become estranged
over inheritance. This shouldn’t happen! This year is the year of
reconciliation, with God and among us! Reconciliation is also a service to
peace, solidarity and the welcome of all.
Let us accept, therefore,
the invitation to be reconciled to God, in order to become new creatures and to
radiate his mercy among our brothers, among the people.
Greeting to participants
in the Jubilee for the armed forces and law enforcement:
With joy I welcome the
representatives of the armed forces and police, here from all over the world,
on pilgrimage to Rome for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. Law enforcement —
military and police — have the mission of ensuring a safe environment, so that
each and every citizen can live in peace and serenity. In your families, in the
various areas in which you operate, may you be instruments of reconciliation,
builders of bridges and sowers of peace. Indeed, you are called not only to
prevent, manage and put an end to conflicts, but also to contribute to the
building of an order founded on truth, on justice, on love and on freedom,
according to St John XXIII’s definition of peace in his Encyclical Pacem
in Terris (nn. 18 ff.).
The affirmation of peace
is not an easy task, especially because of war, which uproots hearts and
augments violence and hatred. I urge you not to be discouraged. Continue on
your journey of faith and open your hearts to God the merciful Father who never
tires of forgiving us. Faced with the challenges of every day, be shining
examples of Christian hope, which is the certitude of the victory of love over
hate and of peace over war.
Greetings:
I greet the
English-speaking visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those
from the armed forces and law enforcement agencies who have come from Canada,
Kenya, Korea, the Philippines and the United States of America. I also greet
the pilgrimage groups from Scotland and the United States. In the joy of the
Risen Lord, I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of God our
Father. May the Lord bless you all!
I affectionately greet young
people, the sick and newlyweds: to each of you
I extend my encouragement to follow Christ. I entrust you all to the motherly
protection of Our Lady.
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