Pope: only those who feel loved are ready for the mission
Today’s weekly general audience was dedicated to Jesus’s meeting with the Samaritan woman. While the pope recovers at Casa Santa Marta, his catechesis notes that Jesus is waiting for us “at the crossroads in our life” where we least expect him.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis’s Wednesday catechesis was released today. In it, the pontiff says that the “mission springs precisely from the experience of feeling loved.”
The pontiff left the Gemelli Hospital on Sunday after his long stay for bilateral pneumonia and is continuing his convalescence at Casa Santa Marta. Still unable to resume his meetings with the faithful, he is still offering his reflections on Jesus Christ our hope, the theme he chose for the Jubilee Year.
Following last week’s focus on the figure of Nicodemus, the series on Jesus’s encounters is based on Chapter 4 of the Gospel of John and the story of the Samaritan woman. Francis dwelled on the moments in which “it seems that He is in fact waiting right there, at that crossroads in our life.”
The Samaritan woman probably did not expect to find anyone at the well. She “goes to fetch water from the well at an unusual hour, when it is very hot. Perhaps this woman is ashamed of her life, perhaps she has felt judged, condemned, not understood, and for this reason she has isolated herself, she has broken off relations with everyone.”
Jesus himself is there after making a surprising choice: “go to Galilee from Judea, Jesus would have had to choose another road and not pass through Samaria. It would also have been safer, given the tense relations between the Jews and the Samaritans. Instead, He wants to pass through there, and stops at that very well, right at that time! Jesus waits for us and lets Himself be found precisely when we think that there is no hope left for us.”
Turning to the theme of desire, central to this encounter, the pope noted that such a thirst speaks of something else, “this woman’s desire to be truly loved.” And at the end of the exchange, she will understand that only He can fully respond to this need.
“At that point the woman runs to call the people of the village, because mission springs precisely from the experience of feeling loved. And what proclamation could she have brought, if not her experience of being understood, welcomed, forgiven? It is an image that should make us reflect on our search for new ways to evangelize.”
To go and tell everyone what happened to her, the Samaritan woman must first leave her amphora at Jesus' feet. In order “to go and proclaim the Gospel, we first need to set down the burden of our history at the feet of the Lord, to consign to Him the weight of our past. Only reconciled people can bring the Gospel.”
Hence, Francis urges everyone not to lose hope. “Even if our history appears burdensome, complicated, perhaps even ruined to us, we always have the possibility of consigning it to God and setting out anew on our journey. God is merciful, and awaits us always!”
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12/03/2023 15:43
