Mary's 'yes' to God changed history, Pope Francis says

Pope Francis marked the Feast of the Annunciation on Monday by reflecting on the power of Mary’s “yes” to God.

“Mary’s ‘yes’ opens the door to Jesus’ ‘yes’: I have come to do Your will, this is the ‘yes’ that Jesus carries with him throughout his life, until the cross,” he said in his April 4 homily.

The Pope celebrated Mass at the Casa Santa Martha residence Monday morning, Vatican Radio reports.

Through Mary’s affirmation, God “becomes one of us and takes on our flesh,” he said.

“Today is the celebration of ‘yes’,” the Pope continued. “It is God’s ‘yes’ that sanctifies us and keeps us alive in Jesus Christ.”

The Feast of the Annunciation marks the visit of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, when he told her that God had chosen her to be the mother of Jesus Christ. Mary responded “Let it be done to me according to your will,” according to the Gospel of Luke.

The Pope reflected on major figures from the Bible – such as Abraham and Moses – who “said ‘yes’ to hope offered by the Lord.” Other figures, like Isaiah or Jeremiah, initially refused or hesitated before saying “yes” to God.

The Pope noted the presence of priests in the congregation who were celebrating the 50th anniversary of their priesthood. He also recognized the Sisters of Santa Martha who renewed their vows in silence at the Mass.

He encouraged each person in the congregation to reflect on whether he or she says “yes” or “no” to God.

“Or am I a man or woman who looks away, so as not to respond?” he asked.

The Pope prayed that God “grant us the grace to take this path of men and women who knew how to say ‘yes’.”  

Francis announces special collection for victims of Ukraine conflict

On Sunday Pope Francis announced that a special collection will be taken up in all Catholic churches in Europe April 24, the funds of which will go toward relief for all suffering due to ongoing violence in Ukraine.

After celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis led pilgrims in praying the Regina Caeli, telling them beforehand that “on this day, which is like the heart of the Holy Year of Mercy, my thoughts go to all peoples who are thirsty for peace and reconciliation.”

“I think, in particular here in Europe, of the plight of those who suffer the consequences of violence in Ukraine,” he said, and pointed to the thousands who have either died, or continue to suffer due to a serious humanitarian crisis in the conflict areas.

Additionally, the Pope noted that so far “more than a million” people have been forced to leave their homes due to the severity of the situation, the majority of whom “are elderly and children.”

Francis assured his closeness and prayer to those suffering, and announced his decision “to promote a humanitarian support in their favor.”

“To this end, a special collection will take place in all of the Catholic Churches in Europe April 24,” he said, and invited faithful to participate with a “generous contribution.”

In addition to alleviating the material suffering of those effected by the conflict, the act serves as an expression of the Pope’s closeness and solidarity, as well as that of the entire Greek Catholic Church, Francis said.

“I fervently hope that this will, without further delay, help to promote peace and respect of rights in that land which is so tried.”

Conflict erupted in Ukraine in November 2013, when the former government refused to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union, leading to months of violent protests.

Tensions deepened in February 2014, when the country’s former president was ousted following the protests, and a new government appointed. In March of that year, Ukraine’s eastern peninsula of Crimea was annexed by Russia and pro-Russian separatist rebels have since taken control of eastern portions of Ukraine, around Donetsk and Luhansk.

More than 6,500 people, including civilians, have died in the fighting between Ukraine's military and pro-Russian separatists. Roughly a million others have been forced to flee due to violence and a lack of basic humanitarian necessities.

Rebels have been supported by both Russian arms and troops, according to both Ukraine and Western nations. A ceasefire was brokered and officially began at midnight Feb. 15, 2015, however there have been constant and ongoing violations.

The announcement of Pope Francis’ special collection was made nearly a month after his March 7 meeting with leaders of the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), who were gathered in Rome for their annual synod of bishops.

In his appeal, the Pope also noted how April 4 marks the World Day against Landmines, and prayed that a renewed commitment would be made to free the world from “these terrible weapons.”

Mercy is an open book – and it's our task to write it, Pope says

On Divine Mercy Sunday Pope Francis said the “Gospel of Mercy” begun by Jesus and the apostles is still unfinished, and is an open book that each person is called to write through their words and actions.

“The Gospel is the book of God’s mercy, to be read and reread, because everything that Jesus said and did is an expression of the Father’s mercy,” the Pope said April 3.

He noted how at the end of the day’s Gospel reading from John, the evangelist expressed that while Jesus carried out many signs in the presence of his disciples, not all of them were written down.

Because of this, “the Gospel of mercy remains an open book, in which the signs of Christ’s disciples, which are concrete acts of love and the best witness to mercy, continue to be written,” he said.

“We are all called to become living writers of the Gospel,” Francis continued, explaining that this is done by practicing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, “which are the hallmarks of the Christian life.”

“By means of these simple yet powerful gestures, even when unseen, we can accompany the needy, bringing God’s tenderness and consolation.”

Pope Francis spoke to a full St. Peter’s Square during his Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast instituted by St. John Paul II and which takes place every year the second Sunday after Easter.

In his homily, the Pope focused on the healings carried out by the disciples in the day’s first reading from Acts, as well as Jesus’ appearance to them in the upper room in the Gospel passage from John.

He noted that in addition to speaking of the signs that Jesus did, the Gospel also presents a contrast between the fear of the disciples, who “gathered behind closed doors,” and the mission of Jesus, “who sends them into the world to proclaim the message of forgiveness.”

This contrast between “a closed heart and the call of love to open doors closed by sin” exists in the heart of many people today, Francis observed, explaining that Jesus’ call is one “that frees us to go out of ourselves.”

“Jesus, who by his resurrection has overcome the fear and dread which imprison us, wishes to throw open our closed doors and send us out,” he said, noting that much of humanity today is wounded, fearful, and marked by pain and uncertainty.

However, every infirmity finds healing in God’s mercy, the Pope said, adding that this mercy isn’t far off, but seeks to be close to those effected by poverty and to free the world from all types of slavery.

To be an apostle, he said, means “touching and soothing the wounds that today afflict the bodies and souls of many of our brothers and sisters.”

When we cure the wounds of our suffering brothers and sisters, “we profess Jesus” and make him alive and present in the world, Francis observed, adding that “this is the mission that he entrusts to us.”

Pope Francis then pointed to Jesus’ appearance to his disciples in the Gospel, noting how he greeted them with the words “peace be with you.”

The peace that Jesus offered is the same one which “awaits men and women of our own day,” he said, explaining that it isn’t “a negotiated peace” absent of conflict, but one that comes from the heart of God, uniting us and making us feel loved.

To be bearers of this peace is the mission that was entrusted to the Church on Easter day, the Pope said, adding that this peace is constantly renewed by God’s forgiveness.

Francis closed his homily by encouraging faithful to give thanks for God’s great love, “which we find impossible to grasp,” and which never abandons us.

He prayed that all would receive the grace “to never grow tired of drawing from the well of the Father’s mercy and bringing it to the world,” and asked that “we too may be merciful, to spread the power of the Gospel everywhere, and to write those pages of the Gospel which John the Apostle did not write.”

After Mass Pope Francis led pilgrims in praying the traditional Regina Caeli prayer, calling to mind all countries affected by war and violence, particularly the Ukraine. 

You can’t receive mercy without sharing it, Pope says

Receiving God’s mercy ignites in us the drive to become “instruments of mercy,” especially to the weakest and the marginalized, Pope Francis said Saturday at a vigil for the feast of Divine Mercy.

“The more we receive, the more we are called to share it with others; it cannot be kept hidden or kept only for ourselves,” he said, addressing those gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“It is something which burns within our hearts, driving us to love, thus recognizing the face of Jesus Christ, above all in those who are most distant, weak, alone, confused and marginalized."

Falling each year on the first Sunday after Easter, the feast of Divine Mercy was instituted by St. John Paul II in 2000 during the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, the Polish mystic whose apparitions of Jesus inspired devotion to the Divine Mercy.

This year’s feast falls within the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which Pope Francis publicly proclaimed during the 2014 vigil for the feast of Divine Mercy. The Jubilee began Dec. 8, 2014, and will conclude Nov. 20.

“Mercy seeks out the lost sheep, and when one is found, a contagious joy overflows.  Mercy knows how to look into the eyes of every person; each one is precious, for each one is unique,” the Pope said during his address.

Francis delivered his vigil address following a series of testimonies and readings from Scripture, all on the theme of mercy.

The expressions of God’s mercy in His encounters with us are “numerous,” he said; “it is impossible to describe them all, for the mercy of God continually increases.” 

“God never tires of showing us mercy and we should never take for granted the opportunity to receive, seek and desire this mercy,” he said. 

“It is something always new, which inspires awe and wonder as we see God’s immense creativity in the ways he comes to meet us.”

Throughout Scripture, God has frequently revealed himself as mercy, the Pope observed.

“How great and infinite is the nature of God, so great and infinite his mercy, to the point that it is greatly challenging to describe it in all its entirety.”

Francis cited a passage from the prophet Isaiah, and its “extremely evocative” image of God holding each of us to his cheek.

He had this passage in mind for the image of the Jubilee, he said: “I led them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them” (Isaiah 11:4). 

“How much tenderness and love is expressed here!” the Pope said. “Jesus not only carries humanity on his shoulders, but his face is so closely joined to Adam’s face that it gives the impression they are one.”

Francis reflected on God’s capability of “understanding and sharing our weaknesses” through Christ’s Incarnation.

“Precisely because of his mercy God became one of us,” he said. By being touched by God’s mercy in Jesus, moreover, we are in turn “inspired to become instruments of his mercy,” the Pope continued. 

“It is easy to speak of mercy, yet more difficult to become its witness.” He spoke of the many ways in which mercy comes to us: “closeness and tenderness,” “compassion and solidarity,” “consolation and forgiveness” – and this in turn compels us to share mercy with others, he said.

Francis also reflected on how Christ’s love “makes us restless” and “impels us to embrace, welcome and include those who need mercy, so that all may be reconciled with the Father.” 

“We ought not to fear for it is a love which comes to us and involves us to such an extent that we go beyond ourselves, enabling us to see his face in our brothers and sisters,” he said. 

“Let us allow ourselves to be humbly guided by this love; then we will become merciful as the Father is merciful.”

In off-the-cuff remarks, Francis referenced the Gospel reading which recounts the Apostle Thomas' initial disbelief, and his need to place his fingers into Jesus' wounded side in order to be convinced of his resurrection.

A faith that does not allow us to put our fingers into the wounds of Jesus' side "is not faith," the Pope said.

"It is not a faith that is capable of being merciful.""It is not faith. It is an idea. It is ideology. Our faith is incarnate, in a God who was made flesh," he said, "who was wounded for us."

If we want to believe "with seriousness," the Pope said, "we must come close to and touch the wounds, caress the wounds," while bowing our heads to allow others to "caress our wounds."

The Pope concluded by urging faithful to remain open to being transformed by the Holy Spirit, who is the love and “mercy that is poured into our hearts.”

“May we not place obstacles to his life-giving work but with docility follow the path he shows us,” he said.

“Let us open our hearts so that the Spirit can transform us; thus forgiven and reconciled, we will become witnesses to the joy that brims over on finding the risen Lord, alive among us.”

Pope Francis sends vestments, financial aid to Iraqi Christians

Pope Francis embraces a pilgrim during the General Audience at the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, Jan. 13, 2016. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

As a sign of affection and closeness, Pope Francis has decided to send vestments used in the liturgy and a financial donation to Christian refugees in Erbil through the Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need.

“Mercy invites us to bend over these brothers of ours in order to dry their tears, to heal their moral and physical wounds, and to console their afflicted and perhaps lost hearts,” the Pope said in a letter addressed to Bishop Francesco Cavina of Carpi.

To do this, the Pope said, is not just “an act of proper charity, but a relief to your own body, because all Christians, by virtue of their shared baptism, are 'one' in Christ.”

Bishop Cavina will be part of a delegation traveling to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, April 1-4 with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Other members of the delegation will include Bishop Antonio Suetta of Ventimiglia-San Remo, Fr. Massimo Fabbri in representation of the Archdiocese of Bologna, and Alessandro Monteduro, director of ACN in Italy, who will serve as the group’s guide.

In a March 23 article published on ACN’s website, Bishop Cavina said that as soon as Pope Francis heard about the delegation’s visit, he called expressing his desire “to send a gift to our brothers in the faith in Iraq.”

This gift includes vestments and a personal financial donation, which the Pope will entrust to Bishop Cavina, who will then give it to the local Church when the delegation arrives.

In his letter to the bishop, Francis said the trip is “an initiative which expresses friendship, ecclesial communion and closeness to many brothers and sisters, whose situation of affliction and tribulation pains me deeply and invites us to defend the inalienable right of every person to freely profess their faith.”

The Pope invited delegation members not to forget “the drama of the persecution,” and added that the “courageous and patient witness” of Christians in Iraq “represents for the entire Church a call to rediscover the fruitful source of the Paschal Mystery from which energy, strength and light for a new humanism are drawn.”

As part of their visit, the group will meet with Archbishop Youhanna Boutros Moshe of the Syriac Archeparchy of Mosul, who left the city when it was overrun by the Islamic State in June, 2014.

They will also meet with the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil, Bashar Warda, who will take them to refugee centers in a mainly Christian suburb of Erbil called Ankawa.

Additionally, the group will stop by the village of Fr. Werenfried, named after the founder of ACN, where 175 Christian families are currently living. The trip will also include visits to ACN schools, which allow nearly 7,000 Iraqi refugee children to continue their education.

Since 2014 ACN has donated more than 15.1 million euros ($17.2 million) to support Christian refugees and displaced persons in Iraq.

The organization stepped up their efforts to offer support during Lent, when the Italian branch promoted six projects aimed at offering aid to the 250,000 Christians still in Iraq. The dioceses of Carpi and Ventimiglia-San Remo have also joined the effort, offering their own donations.

'She's in heaven' – Pope Francis on Mother Angelica

Pope Francis offers a special blessing for the repose of Mother Angelica's soul during his general audience March 30, 2016. Credit: EWTN.

Pope Francis on Wednesday offered a special blessing for Mother Angelica following her death on Easter Sunday, expressing his confidence that she is already in heaven.

“She’s in heaven.” The Pope pointed to the sky as he spoke these words to members of EWTN’s Rome bureau, who brought an image of the late Poor Clare nun to his March 30 general audience as a sign of affection and remembrance.

Francis saw the framed photo in the crowd, and blessed it when asked by EWTN’s Executive TV Producer in Rome, Martha Calderon, for a blessing for Mother Angelica’s soul.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PopeFrancis?src=hash">#PopeFrancis</a> gave a blessing 4 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MotherAngelica?src=hash">#MotherAngelica</a>&#39;s soul, saying &quot;she&#39;s in heaven&quot; &amp; pointing to the sky <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ewtnMA?src=hash">#ewtnMA</a> <a href="https://t.co/MQvKeSu1UW">pic.twitter.com/MQvKeSu1UW</a></p>&mdash; Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) <a href="https://twitter.com/cnalive/status/715146708422959104">March 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation founded the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), in 1981, and it has since become the largest religious media network in the world. She passed away March 27 after a lengthy struggle with the aftereffects of a stroke. She was 92 years old.

Pope Francis offered his prayers for Mother Angelica Feb. 12 while on his way to Cuba, and asked for her prayers in return.

But he isn’t the only one who is confident in the nun’s holiness. Several other prelates have voiced their admiration and appreciation for Mother’s contribution to the faith, to the Catholic Church in the U.S., and to the world of Catholic communications, including retired pontiff Benedict XVI and the Vatican’s spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi.

Although Francis has expressed his belief that Mother Angelica is already in heaven, the formal process for declaring her a saint has yet to begin.

Once a cause for her canonization officially opens, the facts and details of her life, as well as the testimonies from those around her, must be obtained and gathered into a lengthy report called a “positio” or “position” and presented to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The congregation must then study the records to determine Mother’s heroic virtue, and eventually look into miracles attributed to her intercession. Only when one miracle has been officially approved can she be declared a Blessed. A second is then required for her canonization as a saint.

However, the Pope could decide to take the route of what’s called an “equipollent,” or “equivalent” canonization, in which he waives the requirement for one or both of the miracles and canonizes the person without them.
This was the case with St. Pope John XXIII in 2014, for whom the Popedecided to waive the second miracle required for his canonization, and proclaimedhim a saint with just one.

In his general audience speech, Pope Francis continued his catechesis on mercy as understood in scripture, finishing his segment on the Old Testament.

He focused on Psalm 51, also referred to as “the Miserere” and which is traditionally understood as King David’s prayer asking for forgiveness following his sin of adultery with Bathsheba.

Francis pointed to the psalm’s opening words “Have mercy on me, O God in your kindness,” saying they are “a moving confession of sin, repentance and confident hope in God’s merciful pardon.”

Alongside his “heartfelt plea” to be cleansed and purified of his sin, King David also praises God’s infinite justice and holiness, the Pope observed.

Not only does he ask to be forgiven of his sin, but he also prays “for the gift of a pure heart and a steadfast spirit, so that, thus renewed, he may draw other sinners back to the way of righteousness.”

“God’s forgiveness is the greatest sign of his infinite mercy,” Francis said, and in off-the-cuff remarks had the pilgrims present at the audience repeat three times that “God's forgiveness is greater than our sin!”

He closed his audience by praying that Mary, the “Mother of Mercy,” would intercede so that all would become “ever more convincing witnesses to that divine mercy which forgives our sins, creates in us a new heart, and enables us to proclaim God’s reconciling love to the world.”

Let yourselves be moved by hope, Pope says at Easter vigil

Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Vigil at St Peters basilica. Credit: Alexey Gotovskiy/CNA.

 

 

 

During the Easter Vigil, Pope Francis told attendees not to be overcome by sadness in the face of life’s difficulties, but to be open to hope, which is not the absence of problems, but is a gift from God when we allow him to enter our lives.
“We, like Peter and the women, cannot discover life by being sad, bereft of hope,” the Pope said March 26.
He urged the faithful not to “stay imprisoned within ourselves, but let us break open our sealed tombs to the Lord so that he may enter and grant us life. Let us give him the stones of our rancor and the boulders of our past, those heavy burdens of our weaknesses and falls.”
As we anticipate Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead, the first stone which must be moved aside is “the lack of hope which imprisons us within ourselves,” he said.
The Pope then prayed that the Lord would free us from the trap of being “Christians without hope, who live as if the Lord were not risen, as if our problems were the center of our lives.”
Pope Francis spoke to the thousands present inside St. Peter’s Basilica for the Easter Vigil, which is celebrated the night before Easter in anticipation of Jesus’ rising from the dead.
The vigil began in the atrium of the basilica with the traditional blessing of the fire and the preparation of the Easter candle. The Pope then led a procession with the lit candle to the main altar, where he continued with the rest of the Mass.
In the course of the celebration, Francis administered the Sacraments of Christian Initiation – Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist – to 12 newcomers in the Catholic Church, hailing from Italy, Albania, Cameroon, Korea, India and China.
Those being baptized included Yong Joon Lee, the Korean ambassador to Italy, and his wife Hee Kim.
In his homily, the Pope noted how the women in the Gospel, after going to anoint Jesus' body, had run to the disciples and told them about how they had found the tomb empty.
Peter and the others did not initially believe the women, yet Peter ran to the tomb anyway, he said.
“There was doubt in Peter’s heart, together with many other worries: sadness at the death of the beloved Master and disillusionment for having denied him three times during his Passion,” he said.
But still, something in Peter’s behavior had changed. Instead of staying sedentary and remaining at home with the others, Peter rose, refusing to succumb to the somber atmosphere in the days following Jesus’ death or to be overcome by his doubts.
Peter, the Pope said, “was not consumed by remorse, fear or the continuous gossip that leads nowhere.”
“He was looking for Jesus, not himself. He preferred the path of encounter and trust. And so, he got up, just as he was, and ran towards the tomb from where he would return amazed.”
This, Francis observed, “marked the beginning of Peter’s resurrection, the resurrection of his heart.” Without giving in to sadness or darkness, Peter “made room for hope: he allowed the light of God to enter into his heart, without smothering it.”
Like Peter, the women also had the same experience of awe when they went to Jesus' tomb with oil and met the angel, who told them that the Lord had risen, Francis said, adding that like them, we can't allow ourselves to be overcome by a lack of hope.
Pope Francis stressed that there will always be problems “both within and without,” which won’t go away. What’s important, he said, is to place them in the light of the Risen Lord, “and in a certain sense, to evangelize them.”
The resurrection of the Lord is “the foundation of our hope,” he said, clarifying that this hope is neither “mere optimism, nor a psychological attitude or desire to be courageous.”
Rather, he said, Christian hope “is a gift that God gives us if we come out of ourselves and open our hearts to him.”
Hope will never disappoint us because we have been given the Holy Spirit, the Pope said, noting that the Spirit doesn’t seek to make things look appealing or “remove evil with a magic wand.”
The Holy Spirit, he said, “pours into us the vitality of life, which is not the absence of problems, but the certainty of being loved and always forgiven by Christ, who for us has conquered sin, death and fear.”
Pope Francis emphasized that each person, after having met Jesus, is then sent out by him to proclaim the Easter message, and “to awaken and resurrect hope in hearts burdened by sadness, in those who struggle to find meaning in life.”
However, he cautioned that we shouldn’t proclaim ourselves, but must rather be “joyful servants of hope” who announce the Risen Lord through our lives and the ways in which we love.
“Otherwise we will be only an international organization full of followers and good rules, yet incapable of offering the hope for which the world longs,” he said.
Francis concluded his homily by telling attendees that their hope can be strengthened by following the angel’s advice to the women in the Gospel: “Remember what [Jesus] told you.” He urged them to always remember Jesus’ words and deeds, “otherwise we will lose hope.”
He urged everyone to “open our hearts to hope and go forth,” praying that the constant memory of Jesus’ works and words would be “the bright star which directs our steps in the ways of faith toward the Easter that will have no end.”

Mercy will save the world: papal preacher's Good Friday meditation

Pope Francis prostrates himself before the altar of St. Peter's Basilica at the opening of the Good Friday liturgy, March 25, 2016. Credit: Alexey Gotovskiy/CNA.

Remembering this week's deadly terror attack in Brussels, the papal preacher centered his Good Friday reflection on mercy's role in saving the world.

“The opposite of mercy is not justice but vengeance,” said Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, in his sermon for the Celebration of Our Lord's Passion in St. Peter's Basilica March 25.

“The hate and the brutality of the terrorist attacks this week in Brussels help us to understand the divine power of Christ’s last words: 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'”

His remarks come days after more than 30 people were killed and scores were injured by Islamic State suicide bombers at a Brussels airport and metro on March 22.

“In forgiving sinners God is renouncing not justice but vengeance; he does not desire the death of a sinner but wants the sinner to convert and live,” he added.

Fr. Cantalamessa called for the need to “demythologize vengeance,” observing how it pervades many of the stories “seen on screen and video games” in which the “good hero” seeks revenge.

“It has become a pervasive mythic theme that infects everything and everybody, starting with children,” he said.

Outside these fictional contexts, this “mythic theme” of vengeance accounts for much of the world's suffering, “whether in personal relationships or between states and nations.”

Fr. Cantalamessa made this reflection to the congregation gathered in Saint Peter’s Basilica following the chanting in Latin of the account of Christ’s Passion and Death according to St. John. Pope Francis presided over the celebration, leading the faithful in the Veneration of the Cross, during which those present were invited to approach a wooden crucifix and kiss the feet of Jesus.

In his lengthy homily, the papal preacher also placed special emphasis on the role of mercy in saving marriage and the family, which is “the most precious and fragile thing in the world at this time.”

Here he observed the similarity between marriage and “God's relationship with humanity.”

“In the very beginning,” he said, “there was love, not mercy. Mercy comes in only after humanity’s sin.”

“So too in marriage, in the beginning there is not mercy but love. People do not get married because of mercy but because of love.”

After this initial period, challenges and routine “quenches all joy” in the family, he observed.

“What can save a marriage from going downhill without any hope of coming back up again is mercy, understood in the biblical sense.”

In this context, marriage is “not just reciprocal forgiveness but spouses acting with “compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience.”

“Mercy adds agape to eros, it adds the love that gives of oneself and has compassion to the love of need and desire.”

“Shouldn’t a husband and wife, then, take pity on each other? And those of us who live in community, shouldn’t we take pity on one another instead of judging one another?”

Fr. Cantalamessa centered his sermon on Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, in which he speaks of becoming “reconciled with God.”

St. Paul is not referring to the “historical reconciliation between God and humanity,” or “the sacramental reconciliation that takes place in Baptism and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation,”  Fr. Cantalamessa said.

The passage “refers to an existential and personal reconciliation that needs to be implemented in the present,” he said, noting that it is addressed to the baptized Christians of Corinth, and also “to us here and now.”

Reflecting on the “existential and psychological dimension” of reconciliation with God, Fr. Cantalamessa acknowledged the “distorted image” of God which alienates people “from religion and faith.”

“People unconsciously link God’s will to everything that is unpleasant and painful, to what can be seen as somehow destroying individual freedom and development,” he said.

“It is somewhat as though God were the enemy of every celebration, joy, and pleasure – a severe inquisitor-God.”

A remnant of the pagan view of God, this is an image of an all-powerful being who asserts control over individuals, with an emphasis on the impossibility of making reparation for the “transgression of his law,” he said. Such a perception causes “fear” and “resentment” toward God.
 
“It is a vestige of the pagan idea of God that has never been entirely eradicated, and perhaps cannot be eradicated, from the human heart,” he said: that “God is the one who intervenes with divine punishment to reestablish the order disrupted by evil.”

In contrast, God's mercy “has never been disregarded,” he said. 

“The Year of Mercy is a golden opportunity to restore the true image of the biblical God who not only has mercy but is mercy.”

Reflecting on the Apostle John's statement “God is love,” Fr. Cantalamessa observed that God's love within the Trinity is without mercy. This is because the love of the Father and the Son is a “necessity even though it occurs with the utmost freedom; the Son needs to be loved and to love in order to be the Son.”

“The sin of human beings does not change the nature of this love but causes it to make a qualitative leap: mercy as a gift now becomes mercy as forgiveness.”

Fr. Cantalamessa turned his reflection to the relationship between justice and his mercy, citing Paul's letter to the Romans which speaks of all sinners being justified by God's grace through “redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”

“God shows his righteousness and justice by having mercy! This is the great revelation.”

“He is in fact love and mercy, so for that reason he is just to himself – he truly demonstrates who he is – when he has mercy.”

An incorrect notion of God's “righteousness” can cause fear rather than encouragement, he said.

However, “the righteousness of God is that by which God makes those who believe in his Son Jesus acceptable to him. It does not enact justice but makes people just,” Fr. Cantalamessa explained in reference to the writings of St. Augustine. 

He went on to state that the 16th century figure Martin Luther is credited for reintroducing this understanding of God's righteousness, “at least in Christian preaching,” and cited the upcoming fifth centenary of the Protestant Reformation.

Although revisited by St. Augustine, and later Luther, the correct understanding of God's righteousness goes back to Scripture, he said.

“God’s justice not only does not contradict his mercy but consists precisely in mercy!”

Fr. Cantalamessa examined the “radical change in the fate of humanity” that was brought about by the Cross.

He quoted Benedict XVI's book Jesus of Nazareth, saying: “That which is wrong, the reality of evil, cannot simply be ignored; it cannot just be left to stand. It must be dealt with; it must be overcome. Only this counts as a true mercy.”

“And the fact that God now confronts evil himself because men are incapable of doing so – therein lies the ‘unconditional’ goodness of God.”

The papal preacher added that “God was not satisfied with merely forgiving people’s sins; he did infinitely more than that: he took those sins upon himself, he shouldered them himself.”

That the Son of God “became sin for us,” as St. Paul writes, is “a shocking statement,” Fr. Cantalamessa said.  

However, “it was not death, then, but love that saved us!”

“The death of Christ needed to demonstrate to everyone the supreme proof of God’s mercy toward sinners,” he said.

He recalled the two thieves with whom Christ was crucified, which shows how God “wants to remain a friend to sinners right up to the end, so he dies like them and with them.”

Fr. Cantalamessa concluded his sermon, calling for the removal of “any desire for vengeance from the hearts of individuals, families, and nations, and make us fall in love with mercy.”

“Let the Holy Father’s intention in proclaiming this Year of Mercy be met with a concrete response in our lives, and let everyone experience the joy of being reconciled with you in the depth of the heart.”