Pope prays for Europe to have fraternal unity
“Whenever we look at the crucifix, we find this love. The crucifix is precisely the great book of God's love. " "How many people, how many Christians spend time looking at the crucifix ... and there they find everything, because they understood, the Holy Spirit made them understand that there we find all of the science, all of God’s love, all Christian wisdom".
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – At a time that requires greater unity among nations, Pope Francis today prayed for Europe to have the fraternal unity desired by its founders, as he introduced Mass at Casa Santa Marta.
He said "At this time when so much unity is needed among us, among the nations, we pray for Europe today, so that Europe may have this unity, this fraternal unity that the founding fathers of European Union dreamed of".
In his homily, the Pope commented on the passage of the Gospel (Jn 3, 16-21) in which Jesus tells Nicodemus that "God loved the world so much that he gave His only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. In fact, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world may be saved through him".
This passage from John's Gospel, Francis observed, "is a true treatise on theology". “And every time we read it, we encounter more wealth, more explanations, more things that make us understand the revelation of God. It would be nice to read it many times, to get closer to the mystery of redemption. Today I will take only two points of all this, two points that are in today's passage”.
"The first is the revelation of God's love. God loves us and He loves us - as a saint says – like mad: God's love seems like madness. He loves us: 'he loved the world so much as to give His only-begotten Son'. He gave his Son, sent his Son and sent him to die on the cross. Whenever we look at the crucifix, we find this love. The crucifix is precisely the great book of God's love. It is not an object to be put here or to be put there, more beautiful, less beautiful, older, more modern ... no. It is precisely the expression of God's love. God loved us thus: he sent his Son, [who] annihilated himself until the death of the cross for love. He loved the world so much, God, that he gave His Son. "
"How many people, how many Christians spend time looking at the crucifix ... and there they find everything, because they understood, the Holy Spirit made them understand that there is all the science, all the love of God, all Christian wisdom. Paul talks about this, explaining that all human reasoning serves up to a certain point, but the true reasoning, the most beautiful way of thinking, but also the most explicable is the cross of Christ, it is Christ crucified who is scandal and madness, but it is the way. And this is the love of God. God loved the world so much that He gave His only-begotten Son. And why? So that anyone who believes in him is not lost but has eternal life. The love of the Father who wants His children with him".
"Looking at the crucifix in silence, looking at the wounds, looking at the heart of Jesus, looking at the whole: Christ crucified, the Son of God, annihilated, humiliated ... for love. This is the first point that today makes us see this treatise on theology, which is Jesus' dialogue with Nicodemus ".
"The second point is a point that will help us, too: 'Light came into the world, but men loved darkness more than light, because their works were evil.' Jesus also takes this of the light. There are people – often we too - who cannot live in the light because they are used to darkness. The light dazzles them they are unable to see. They are human bats: they only know how to move in the night. And we too, when we are in sin, are in this state: we cannot tolerate light. It is more comfortable for us to live in darkness; the light slaps us, shows us what we don't want to see. But the worst is that the eyes, the eyes of the soul from so much living in the darkness get used to such a point that they end up ignoring what light is. Losing the sense of light because I get used to darkness. And so many human scandals, so many corruptions tell us this. The corrupt don't know what light is, they don't know. We too, when we are in a state of sin, in a state of estrangement from the Lord, we become blind and feel better in the darkness and go like this, without seeing, like the blind, moving as we can".
"Let the love of God, who sent Jesus to save us, enter us and the light that Jesus brings, the light of the Spirit enter us and help us to see things with the light of God, with true light and not with the darkness that the lord of darkness gives us. Two things today: the love of God in Christ, in the crucifix; in our daily life, in the question we can ask ourselves each and every day: 'Do I walk in the light or walk in the darkness? Am I a child of God or am I being a poor bat?"
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29/10/2017 14:04
