GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Wednesday, 21 September 2016
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| PHOTO: pagadiandiocese.org |
30. Merciful
like the Father (cf Lk 6:36-38)
Dear
Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
We have heard the passage from
the Gospel of Luke (6:36-38) that inspired the motto of this extraordinary Holy
Year: Merciful like the Father. The complete phrase reads: “Be
merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (v. 36). It is not a catchphrase,
but a life commitment. To understand this expression well, we can compare it
with the parallel text from the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus says: “You,
therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (5:48).
In the well-known Sermon on
the Mount, which opens with the Beatitudes, the Lord teaches that perfection
lies in love, the fulfillment of all the precepts of the Law. In this same
perspective, St Luke specifies that perfection is merciful love: to be perfect means
to bemerciful. Is a person who is not merciful perfect? No! Is a person
who is not merciful good? No! Goodness and perfection are rooted in mercy.
Certainly, God is perfect. However, if we consider Him in this way, it becomes
impossible for men to aim towards that absolute perfection. Instead, having Him
before our eyes as merciful, allows us to better understand what constitutes
his perfection, and this spurs us to be, as He is, full of love, compassion,
mercy.
I ask myself: are Jesus’ words
realistic? Is it really possible to love like God loves and to be merciful like
He is?
If we look at the history of
salvation, we see that the whole of God’s revelation is an unceasing and
untiring love for mankind: God is like a father or mother who loves with an
unfathomable love and pours it out abundantly on every creature. Jesus’ death
on the Cross is the culmination of the love story between God and man. A love
so great that God alone can understand it. It is clear that, compared to this
immeasurable love, our love will always be lacking. But when Jesus calls us to
be merciful like the Father, he does not mean in quantity! He
asks his disciples to become signs, channels, witnesses of
his mercy.
The Church can be nothing
other than a sacrament of God’s mercy in the world, at every time and for all
of mankind. Every Christian, therefore, is called to be a witness of mercy, and
this happens along the path of holiness. Let us think of the many saints who
became merciful because they allowed their hearts to be filled with divine
mercy. They embodied the Lord’s love, pouring it into the multiple needs of a
suffering humanity. Within the flourishing of many forms of charity you can see
the reflection of Christ’s merciful face.
We ask ourselves: What does it
mean for disciples to be merciful? Jesus explains this with two verbs:
“forgive” (Lk 6:37) and “give” (v. 38).
Mercy is expressed, first of
all, in forgiveness: “Judge not, and you will not be judged;
condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven”
(v. 37). Jesus does not intend to undermine the course of human justice, he
does, however, remind his disciples that in order to have fraternal
relationships they must suspend judgment and condemnation. Forgiveness, in
fact, is the pillar that holds up the life of the Christian community, because
it shows the gratuitousness with which God has loved us first.
The Christian must forgive!
Why? Because he has been forgiven. All of us who are here today, in the Square,
we have been forgiven. There is not one of us who, in our own life, has had no
need of God’s forgiveness. And because we have been forgiven, we must forgive.
We recite this every day in the Our Father: “Forgive us our sins;
forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. That
is, to forgive offenses, to forgive many things, because we have been forgiven
of many offenses, of many sins. In this way it is easy to forgive: if God has
forgiven me, why do I not forgive others? Am I greater than God? This pillar of
forgiveness shows us the gratuitousness of the love of God, who loved us first.
Judging and condemning a brother who sins is wrong. Not because we do not want
to recognize sin, but because condemning the sinner breaks the bond of
fraternity with him and spurns the mercy of God, who does not want to renounce
any of his children. We do not have the power to condemn our erring brother, we
are not above him: rather, we have a duty to recover the dignity of a child of
the Father and to accompany him on his journey of conversion.
Jesus also indicates a second
pillar to us who are his Church: “to give”. Forgiveness is the first pillar;
giving is the second pillar. “Give, and it will be given to you.... For the
measure you give will be the measure you get back” (v. 38). God gives far
beyond our merits, but He will be even more generous with those who have been
generous on earth. Jesus does not say what will happen to those who do not
give, but the image of the “measure” is a warning: with the measure that we
give, it is we who determine how we will be judged, how we will be loved. If we
look closely, there is a coherent logic: the extent to which you receive from
God, you give to your brother, and the extent to which you give to your
brother, you will receive from God!
Merciful love is therefore the
only way forward. We all have a great need to be a bit more merciful, to not
speak ill of others, to not judge, to not “sting” others with criticism, with
envy and jealousy. We must forgive, be merciful, and live our lives with love.
This love enables Jesus’ disciples
to never lose the identity they received from Him, and to recognize themselves
as children of the same Father. In the love that they practice in life we see
reflected that Mercy that will never end (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-12). Do not forget
this: mercy is a gift; forgiveness and giving. In this way, the heart expands,
it grows with love. While selfishness and anger make the heart small, they make
it harden like a stone. Which do you prefer? A heart of stone or a heart full
of love? If you prefer a heart full of love, be merciful!
Special
greetings:
I greet the English-speaking
pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from
England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Vietnam, the Philippines, South Africa, Australia, Canada and the United States
of America. May you open your lives to the Lord’s gift of mercy, and share this
gift with all whom you know. As children of our Heavenly Father, may you be
missionaries of his merciful love. May God bless you all!
Today marks the 23rd World
Alzheimer’s Day, which has as its theme: “Remember Me”. I invite all those
present to “remember”, with the solicitude of Mary and with the tenderness of
Merciful Jesus, the many people who are suffering from this disease, and to
make their families feel our closeness. Let us also pray for the people who are
close to the sick, able to understand even the most subtle of their needs,
because they are seen with eyes full of love.
I extend a special greeting to young
people, to the sick, and to newlyweds. Today is the
Feast of St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. May his conversion be an example
to you, dear young people, to live with the guidelines of faith;
may his meekness sustain you, dearsick people, when the suffering seems
unbearable; and may following the Saviour remind you, dear newlyweds,
of the importance of prayer in the matrimonial journey that you have
undertaken.
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