ANGELUS
POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Fourth Sunday of Lent, 6 March 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
In Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel, we find three
parables of mercy: that of the sheep found (vv. 4-7), that of the coin found
(vv. 8-10), and the great parable of the prodigal son, or rather, of the
merciful father (vv. 11-32). Today, it would be nice for each of us to open
Chapter 15 of the Gospel according to Luke, and read these three parables.
During the Lenten itinerary, the Gospel presents to us this very parable of the
merciful Father, featuring a father with his two sons. The story highlights
some features of this father who is a man always ready to forgive and to hope
against hope. Especially striking is the father’s tolerance before the younger
son’s decision to leave home: he could have opposed it, knowing that he was
still immature, a youth, or sought a lawyer not to give him his inheritance, as
the father was still living. Instead, he allows the son to leave, although
foreseeing the possible risks. God works with us like this: He allows us to be
free, even to making mistakes, because in creating us, He has given us the
great gift of freedom. It is for us to put it to good use. This gift of freedom
that God gives us always amazes me!
But the separation from his son is only
physical; for the father always carries him in his heart; trustingly, he awaits
his return; the father watches the road in the hope of seeing him. And one day
he sees him appear in the distance (cf. v. 20). But this means that this
father, every day, would climb up to the terrace to see if his son was coming
back! Thus the father is moved to see him, he runs toward him, embraces him,
kisses him. So much tenderness! And this son got into trouble! But the father
still welcomes him so.
The father treated the eldest son the same way,
but as he had always stayed at home, he is now indignant and complains because
he does not understand and does not share all that kindness toward his brother
that had wronged. The father also goes to meet this son and reminds him that
they were always together, they share everything (v. 31), one must welcome with
joy the brother who has finally returned home. And this makes me think of
something: When one feels one is a sinner, one feels worthless, or as I’ve
heard some — many — say: ‘Father, I am like dirt’, so then, this is the moment
to go to the Father. Instead, when one feels righteous — ‘I always did the
right thing …’ —, equally, the Father comes to seek us, because this attitude
of feeling ‘right’, is the wrong attitude: it is pride! It comes from the
devil. The Father waits for those who recognize they are sinners and goes in
search of the ones who feel ‘righteous’. This is our Father!
In this parable, you can also glimpse a third
son. A third son? Where? He’s hidden! And it is the one, ‘who, though he was in
the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but
emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:6-7). This Servant-Son
is Jesus!
He is ‘the extension of the arms and heart of
the Father: he welcomed the prodigal Son and washed his dirty feet; he prepared
the banquet for the feast of forgiveness. He, Jesus, teaches us to be “merciful
as the Father is merciful”.
The figure of the Father in the parable reveals
the heart of God. He is the Merciful Father who, in Jesus, loves us beyond
measure, always awaits our conversion every time we make mistakes; he awaits
our return when we turn away from him thinking, we can do without him; he is
always ready to open his arms no matter what happened. As the father of the
Gospel, God also continues to consider us his children, even when we get lost,
and comes to us with tenderness when we return to him. He addresses us so
kindly when we believe we are right. The errors we commit, even if bad, do not
wear out the fidelity of his love. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we can
always start out anew: He welcomes us, gives us the dignity of being his
children and tells us: “Go ahead! Be at peace! Rise, go ahead!”
In this time of Lent that still separates us
from Easter, we are called to intensify the inner journey of conversion. May
the loving gaze of our Father touch us. Let us return and return to him with
all our heart, rejecting any compromise with sin. May the Virgin Mary accompany
us until the regenerating embrace with Divine Mercy.
After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, I express my
closeness to the Missionaries of Charity for the grave loss they suffered two
days ago with the killing of four Sisters in Aden, Yemen, where they were
assisting the elderly. I pray for them and for the other people killed in the
attack, and for their family members. These are the martyrs of today! They may
not be on the cover of a magazine … [they] may not even make the news, but they
gave their blood for the Church. These people are victims of the attack of
those who killed them and of indifference too, of this globalization of
indifference, which does not care…. May Mother Teresa accompany her martyr
daughters of charity in Heaven, and intercede for peace and the sacred respect
for human life.
As a concrete sign of commitment to peace and
life, I want to mention and express admiration for humanitarian corridors in
favour of refugees, launched recently in Italy. This pilot project, which
combines solidarity and security, allows one to help people fleeing war and
violence, as the hundred refugees who have already been transferred to Italy,
including sick children, disabled people, war widows with children, and the
elderly. I also welcome this initiative because it is an ecumenical one,
supported by the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Italian Federation of
Evangelical Churches, and the Waldensian and Methodist churches.
I ask, please, for your prayers for me and my
collaborators, who from this evening until Friday, will be on retreat.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Have a nice lunch
and arrivederci!
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