"Where there is the Lord there is mercy. And St. Ambrose added: 'And where is rigidity, there are its ministers''. "We only understand God's mercy when it was poured out on us, our sins, our miseries ..."

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - " Where there is the Lord there is mercy. And St. Ambrose added: 'And where is rigidity, there are its ministers'',  said Pope Francis during mass this morning in Casa Santa Marta.

The Pope was taking inspiration from the Book of Jonah where the prophet resists the will of God, but eventually learns that he must obey the Lord. And the great city of Nineveh converts thanks to his preaching. "Really it is a miracle, because in this case he left aside his stubbornness and obeyed the will of God, and did as the Lord commanded him".

Remarking on the fact that the city of Nineveh converts thanks to Jonah’s preaching, Pope Francis said “it really was a miracle, because in this case he abandons his stubbornness, his rigidity,  to obey the will of God, and he did what the Lord commanded him."
According to Pope Francis So, Pope Francis observed, the story of Jonah and Nineveh unfolds in three chapters:  the first "is Jonah’s resistance to the mission the Lord entrusts him with"; the second "is his obedience” and the ensuing miracle; in the third chapter, "there is resistance to God’s mercy". "Those words, 'Lord, was not this what I said when I was in my country? For you are a merciful and gracious God ', and I have done all the work of preaching, I have done my job well, have you forgiven them? The hard heart does allow God’s mercy to enter. It is more important my sermon, my thoughts are more important, more important than the list of commandments that I must observe, everything, everything, everything than God's mercy”.

The Pope went on to say that Jesus too was misunderstood because of his mercy. He recalled that Jesus lived with the Doctors of the Law who did not understand why he did not let the adulteress be stoned, they did not understand why he dined with publicans and sinners, “they did not understand. They did not understand mercy”. 'You are merciful and gracious'. " Pope Francis said that the Psalm that we prayed today tells us to "wait for the Lord because with the Lord there is mercy, and redemption."

"Where the Lord is - Francis concluded - there is mercy”. And, he added, as Ambrose said: “Where his ministers are there is rigidity. The rigidity that defies mission, which challenges mercy ": "As we approach the Year of Mercy, let us pray the Lord to help us understand his heart, to understand what 'mercy' means, what it means when He says: 'I want mercy, not sacrifice!'”.  And we prayed so much with that beautiful sentence: 'Bestow Your Mercy upon us, because only you understand God's mercy when it was poured on us, on our sins , our miseries ... "

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