At 12:00 noon today, the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims who were gathered in Saint Peter's Square for the usual Sunday appointment.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
The gospel for this fifth Sunday of Lent (cf Jn 8:1-11) is very beautiful; I love to read it over and over. It presents the story of the adulterous woman and highlights the theme of God's mercy: that he never desires the death of a sinner, but that he or she should be converted and live. The scene takes place on the Temple Mount. Imagine what it would have been like there, in that square (like this square in Saint Peter's). Jesus was teaching the people, and some scribes and Pharisees arrived, dragging a woman who was caught in the act of adultery, who they forced to stand before him. That woman found herself standing between Jesus and the crowd (cf Jn 8:3), between the mercy of the Son of God and violence, the wrath of her accusers. Truth be told, they had not come to the Master in order to seek his opinion - they were bad people - but in order to set a trap. In fact, if Jesus were to follow the severity of the law, approving the woman's stoning, he would have lost the reputation for gentleness and kindness that had so fascinated the people; if on the other hand he truly wanted to be merciful, he would have to go against the law, something that He himself had said he did not want to destroy, but to fulfill (cf Mt 5, 17). And Jesus was put in the midst of this situation.
This bad intention was hidden under the question that was asked of Jesus: What do you say? (Jn 8:5). Jesus doesn't answer, he is silent and instead performs a mysterious gesture: He bent down and began to write with his finger in the dirt (Jn 8:7). Maybe he was drawing, some say that he was writing the sins committed by the Pharisees ... in any case, he wrote as though he was in another place. In this way, he invited everyone to be calm, to not react based on impulse, but to seek God's justice. But those ill-intentioned ones were insisting and waiting for Him to respond. They seemed to be thirsty for blood, so Jesus raised his eyes and said: Let whoever among you is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her (Jn 8:7). This response surprised the accusers, disarming them all in the true sense of the word; they all laid down their weapons: the stones that they were ready to throw, both the visible ones that they were preparing to throw at the woman and the hidden ones that they had prepared for Jesus. While the Lord continued to write in the earth, to draw pictures, I don't know ... the accusers all went away, one after another, with their heads lowered, beginning with the eldest among them: those who were most aware that they were not sinless. How well this scene makes us aware that we are all sinners! When we gossip about others - something that we know only too well - how good it would be to have the courage to drop all the stones we hold in our hands, ready to throw them at others, and to think a bit about our own sins!
Only the woman and Jesus remained there: suffering and mercy, one in front of the other. This often happens to us, when we stop in front of the confessional, filled with shame, to make our suffering known and to ask for forgiveness! Woman, where are they? (Jn 8:10), Jesus asks ... and this is enough, and his eyes, so full of mercy, full of love, makes us feel like a person - maybe for the first time - who has dignity, that we are not defined by our sins, that we have personal dignity, that we can change our lives, that we can escape from our slavery and walk a different path.
Dear brothers and sisters, that woman represents all of us, who are sinners, adulterers before the Lord, betrayers of his faithfulness. What she experienced is what God wants for all of us: not our condemnation, but our salvation through the person of Jesus. He is the grace that saves us from sin and death. He wrote God's judgement in the sand, in the dust from which we have all been made (cf Gn 2:7): I do not wish for you to die, but for you to live. God does not nail us to our sins, he does not identify us with the bad things that we have done. We have a name, and God does not associate this name with the sins that we have committed. He wants to free us, and he wants us to want to be with Him. He wants us to freely be converted from evil to good, and this is possible - it is possible! - with his grace.
May the Virgin Mary help us to completely confide ourselves to the mercy of God, to become new creations.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet all of you, from Rome, from Italy and from various other countries, especially the pilgrims from Seville, Freiburg (Germany), Innsbruck and from Ontario (Canada).
I greet the volunteers from the Mater Dei House in Vittorio Veneto. I greet the numerous parish groups, among which are the faithful from Boiano, Potenza, Calenzano, Zevio and Agropoli, as well as the young people from many parts of Italy: I cannot name them all, but I remember those from Compiobbi and Mozzanica, from Catholic Action in the Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno, and the Confirmandi from Scandicci and from Milano-Lambrate.
And now, I want to renew the gesture of distributing pocket bibles. This time, the Gospel of Luke that we are reading every Sunday during this liturgical year. The little book is entitled: Saint Luke's Gospel of Mercy; in fact, the evangelist recalls the words of Jesus: Be merciful, as your Father is merciful (Lk 6:36), and this is where we get the theme for this Jubilee Year. They will be distributed free of charge by volunteers from the Santa Marta Paediatric dispensary here in the Vatican, along with some elderly persons and grandmothers from the city of Rome. How praiseworthy are our grandmothers and grandfathers, who pass on the faith to their grandchildren! I invite you to take this gospel and to read it, a passage per day; in this way, the Father's mercy will live in your hearts and you will be able to share his mercy with those you meet. At the end of the booklet, on page 123, the seven works of corporeal mercy and the seven works of spiritual mercy are also listed. It would be good if we could all learn them by heart, so that they will be easier to perform! I invite you to take this gospel, so that the Father's mercy can accomplish good things in you. And you, volunteers, grandmothers and grandfathers who will distribute these gospels, think about the people who are in the Pius XII Square - I see that they could not enter (into Saint Peter's Square) - make sure that they too receive a copy of this gospel.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
Greetings of His Holiness, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
The gospel for this fifth Sunday of Lent (cf Jn 8:1-11) is very beautiful; I love to read it over and over. It presents the story of the adulterous woman and highlights the theme of God's mercy: that he never desires the death of a sinner, but that he or she should be converted and live. The scene takes place on the Temple Mount. Imagine what it would have been like there, in that square (like this square in Saint Peter's). Jesus was teaching the people, and some scribes and Pharisees arrived, dragging a woman who was caught in the act of adultery, who they forced to stand before him. That woman found herself standing between Jesus and the crowd (cf Jn 8:3), between the mercy of the Son of God and violence, the wrath of her accusers. Truth be told, they had not come to the Master in order to seek his opinion - they were bad people - but in order to set a trap. In fact, if Jesus were to follow the severity of the law, approving the woman's stoning, he would have lost the reputation for gentleness and kindness that had so fascinated the people; if on the other hand he truly wanted to be merciful, he would have to go against the law, something that He himself had said he did not want to destroy, but to fulfill (cf Mt 5, 17). And Jesus was put in the midst of this situation.
This bad intention was hidden under the question that was asked of Jesus: What do you say? (Jn 8:5). Jesus doesn't answer, he is silent and instead performs a mysterious gesture: He bent down and began to write with his finger in the dirt (Jn 8:7). Maybe he was drawing, some say that he was writing the sins committed by the Pharisees ... in any case, he wrote as though he was in another place. In this way, he invited everyone to be calm, to not react based on impulse, but to seek God's justice. But those ill-intentioned ones were insisting and waiting for Him to respond. They seemed to be thirsty for blood, so Jesus raised his eyes and said: Let whoever among you is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her (Jn 8:7). This response surprised the accusers, disarming them all in the true sense of the word; they all laid down their weapons: the stones that they were ready to throw, both the visible ones that they were preparing to throw at the woman and the hidden ones that they had prepared for Jesus. While the Lord continued to write in the earth, to draw pictures, I don't know ... the accusers all went away, one after another, with their heads lowered, beginning with the eldest among them: those who were most aware that they were not sinless. How well this scene makes us aware that we are all sinners! When we gossip about others - something that we know only too well - how good it would be to have the courage to drop all the stones we hold in our hands, ready to throw them at others, and to think a bit about our own sins!
Only the woman and Jesus remained there: suffering and mercy, one in front of the other. This often happens to us, when we stop in front of the confessional, filled with shame, to make our suffering known and to ask for forgiveness! Woman, where are they? (Jn 8:10), Jesus asks ... and this is enough, and his eyes, so full of mercy, full of love, makes us feel like a person - maybe for the first time - who has dignity, that we are not defined by our sins, that we have personal dignity, that we can change our lives, that we can escape from our slavery and walk a different path.
Dear brothers and sisters, that woman represents all of us, who are sinners, adulterers before the Lord, betrayers of his faithfulness. What she experienced is what God wants for all of us: not our condemnation, but our salvation through the person of Jesus. He is the grace that saves us from sin and death. He wrote God's judgement in the sand, in the dust from which we have all been made (cf Gn 2:7): I do not wish for you to die, but for you to live. God does not nail us to our sins, he does not identify us with the bad things that we have done. We have a name, and God does not associate this name with the sins that we have committed. He wants to free us, and he wants us to want to be with Him. He wants us to freely be converted from evil to good, and this is possible - it is possible! - with his grace.
May the Virgin Mary help us to completely confide ourselves to the mercy of God, to become new creations.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet all of you, from Rome, from Italy and from various other countries, especially the pilgrims from Seville, Freiburg (Germany), Innsbruck and from Ontario (Canada).
I greet the volunteers from the Mater Dei House in Vittorio Veneto. I greet the numerous parish groups, among which are the faithful from Boiano, Potenza, Calenzano, Zevio and Agropoli, as well as the young people from many parts of Italy: I cannot name them all, but I remember those from Compiobbi and Mozzanica, from Catholic Action in the Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno, and the Confirmandi from Scandicci and from Milano-Lambrate.
And now, I want to renew the gesture of distributing pocket bibles. This time, the Gospel of Luke that we are reading every Sunday during this liturgical year. The little book is entitled: Saint Luke's Gospel of Mercy; in fact, the evangelist recalls the words of Jesus: Be merciful, as your Father is merciful (Lk 6:36), and this is where we get the theme for this Jubilee Year. They will be distributed free of charge by volunteers from the Santa Marta Paediatric dispensary here in the Vatican, along with some elderly persons and grandmothers from the city of Rome. How praiseworthy are our grandmothers and grandfathers, who pass on the faith to their grandchildren! I invite you to take this gospel and to read it, a passage per day; in this way, the Father's mercy will live in your hearts and you will be able to share his mercy with those you meet. At the end of the booklet, on page 123, the seven works of corporeal mercy and the seven works of spiritual mercy are also listed. It would be good if we could all learn them by heart, so that they will be easier to perform! I invite you to take this gospel, so that the Father's mercy can accomplish good things in you. And you, volunteers, grandmothers and grandfathers who will distribute these gospels, think about the people who are in the Pius XII Square - I see that they could not enter (into Saint Peter's Square) - make sure that they too receive a copy of this gospel.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
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