Pope: God is faithful and loves 'viscerally', like a father and a mother

"Our faithful Lord cannot deny Himself, He cannot deny us, He cannot deny His love, He cannot deny His people, He cannot deny because He loves us". "When we approach the Sacrament of Penance, please: do not think of it as if we were taking a trip to the dry cleaner to remove stains. No. We are going to receive the embrace of love of this faithful God, who is always waiting for us. Always".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - God is faithful and loves "viscerally", like a father and a mother,  said Pope Francis this this morning at Casa Santa Marta, inspired by the First Reading, taken from the Book of Genesis (Gen 17: 9-9), which traces the episode of the covenant of God with Abraham. A covenant that will be prolonged in the history of the people, despite sins and idolatry.

The Lord, said Francis again, "has always remembered His covenant", as the Responsorial Psalm says. In fact, he has a "visceral love" that He does not forget. In this regard, the Pope recalled that in Argentina on Mother's Day flowers are given called "Forget-me-nots", which have two colors: a gentle blue, for mothers who are alive, and purple, for the mothers who have died: "This is the love of God, like that of a mother. God never forgets about us. Never. He cannot, is faithful to His covenant. This gives us security. Of us we can say: 'But, my life is so bad ... I am in this difficulty, I am a sinner, a sinner ...'. He does not forget you, because He has this visceral love, and He is a father and a mother.

It is a fidelity that brings joy. As for Abraham, our joy is to rejoice in hope because "each one  of us knows that he is not faithful", but God is. " Our faithful Lord cannot deny Himself, He cannot deny us, He cannot deny His love, He cannot deny His people, He cannot deny because He loves us. This is God's faithfulness. When we approach the Sacrament of Penance, please: do not think of it as if we were taking a trip to the dry cleaner to remove stains. No. We are going to receive the embrace of love of this faithful God, who is always waiting for us. Always".

The Pope then made reference to today's Gospel (Jn 8: 51-59) in which it is said that the doctors of the Law collected stones to throw them at Jesus. We speak of stones to kill, to "obscure the truth of the Resurrection" . "He - he reiterated in conclusion - is faithful, He knows me, He loves me. He will never leave me. He takes me by the hand. What can I want? What more? What should I do? He exults in hope. Exult in hope, because the Lord loves you as a father and as a mother ".