Pope: We all have hardness of heart, but God always gives us the grace to rise again

Francis speaks of the conversion of Saint Paul: "Saul the strong, the certain, was on the ground" after the call of a voice. But it is then that he "understands the truth, not to be a man of God, because God created all of us to stand up, with our head held high. The voice from heaven says not only 'Why do you persecute me?', But invites Paul to his feet: 'Get up and you will be told".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - We all have hardness of heart: all of us. “If any of you do not, raise your hand, please. All of us. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to make us see that these hardships throw us to the ground”, said Pope Francis during the usual homily at Casa Santa Marta.

Vatican Radio reports that the Pope was commenting on the Gospel passage of the conversion of St. Paul: "Having zeal for sacred things does not mean having a heart open to God. Pope Francis gave the example of a man of ardent fidelity to the principles of his faith, Paul of Tarsus, but with a "closed heart", totally deaf to Christ , to the point of "agreeing" to exterminate his followers and being authorized to put in chains those who lived in Damascus.

Pope Francis continued that everything is overturned on the very road that leads to this goal, to the extent that Paul’s story becomes the "story of a man who allows God to change his heart." Paul is enveloped by a powerful light, he hears a voice calling him, falls, becomes momentarily blind. "Saul the strong, the certain, was on the ground," said Francis. In that condition, he points out, "he understands the truth, not to be" a man of God, because God created all of us to stand with our heads high. " The voice from heaven says not only "Why do you persecute me?", But invites Paul to his feet:" 'Get up and you will be told'. You have yet to learn. And when he started to get up he could not because he realized that he was blind at that time he had lost his sight. He allows himself to be guided': His heart began to open up. So, leading him by the hand, the men who were with him led him to Damascus, and for three days he was blind, and did not take food or drink. This man was on the ground but soon realized he had to accept this humiliation. This way to open the heart is humiliation. When the Lord humiliation or allows us to be humiliated that's precisely why: So that our heart is open, is docile, so that our heart may be converted to the Lord Jesus".

Paul's heart melts. What changes in those lonely days of blindness, is his inner sight. Then, God sends Ananias to him, he lays his hands on him and even Saul's eyes return to see. But  Pope Francis said, there is one aspect in this dynamic that should be borne in mind: "Recall that the protagonist of these stories are neither lawyers nor Stephen, or Philip, nor the eunuch, nor Saul ... It is the Holy Spirit. The protagonist of the Church is the Holy Spirit who leads the people of God. And immediately there fell from his eyes like scales, and regained his sight. He got up and was baptized. The hardness of the heart of Paul - Saul, Paul - became docility to the Holy Spirit ".

"It is truly good - said Francis – to see how the Lord is able to change hearts" and ensure that "a tough, stubborn heart becomes a heart docile to the Spirit": "We all have hardness of heart: all of us. If any of you do not, raise your hand, please. All of us. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to make us see that these hardships throw us to the ground. May He send us the grace and also - if necessary - the humiliations not to stay on the ground but to stand up, with the dignity with which God created us, and that is the grace of an heart that is open and docile to the Holy Spirit ".

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