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Monday, February 29, 2016
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Second Sunday of Lent, 21 February 2016



Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
The second Sunday of Lent presents us the Gospel of Jesus’ Transfiguration.
The apostolic visit that I made to Mexico some days ago was an experience of transfiguration for all of us. How so? Because the Lord has shown us the light of his glory through the body of the Church, of his holy people that live in this land. It is a body so often wounded, a people so often oppressed, scorned, violated in its dignity. Therefore the various encounters we experienced in Mexico were truly full of light: the light of a faith that transfigures faces and illumines our path.

The spiritual “centre of gravity” of my pilgrimage was the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. To remain in silence before the image of the Mother was my principal aim. I thank God that he gave me this opportunity. I contemplated and I allowed myself to be gazed upon by she who carries imprinted in her eyes the gaze of all her children, gathering up the sorrows caused by violence, kidnapping, assassinations, the violence against so many poor people, against so many women. Guadalupe is the most visited Marian shrine in the world. From all over the Americas, people go to pray where la Virgen Morenita appeared to the Indian, St Juan Diego, which set in motion the evangelization of the continent and its new civilization, a fruit of the encounter between diverse cultures.

This is precisely the inheritance that the Lord has entrusted to Mexico: to care for the richness of diversity, and at the same time, to manifest the harmony of a common faith, a sincere and robust faith, accompanied by a great force of vitality and humanity. Like my predecessors, I also went to confirm the Mexican people in their faith, and at the same time to be confirmed. My hands are full of this gift so that it goes out as a benefit to the universal Church.

A luminous example of what I am saying was given by families: the Mexican families received me with joy as a messenger of Christ, pastor of the whole Church. At the same time, they presented to me strong and clear testimonies, testimonies of a living faith, a faith that transfigures life, and this to edify all of the Christian families of the world. The same can be said about the youth, the consecrated, the priests, the workers, the imprisoned.

Thus I give thanks to the Lord and to the Virgin of Guadalupe for the gift of this pilgrimage. I also thank the President of Mexico and the other civil authorities for their warm welcome. I deeply thank my brothers in the episcopate and all of the people who collaborated in various ways.

We raise up special praise to the Most Holy Trinity for having wanted on this occasion to bring about in Cuba the encounter between the Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, our dear brother Kirill. It was an encounter also much desired by my predecessors. This event is also a prophetic light of resurrection, which the world today needs more than ever. May the Holy Mother of God continue to guide us on the path of friendship and unity. Let us pray to the Virgin of Kazan, of whom Patriarch Kirill gave me an icon.

After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, tomorrow in Rome begins an international conference entitled “For a World Without the Death Penalty,” sponsored by the Sant’Egidio Community. I hope that this conference might give new strength to efforts to abolish the death penalty. A spreading opposition to the death penalty, even as an instrument of legitimate social defence, has developed in public opinion, and this is a sign of hope. In fact, modern societies have the ability to effectively control crime without definitively taking away a criminal’s chance to redeem himself. The issue lies in the context of a perspective on a criminal justice system that is ever more conformed to the dignity of man and God’s design for man and for society. And also a criminal justice system open to the hope of reintegration in society. The commandment “thou shall not kill” has absolute value and pertains to the innocent as well as the guilty.

The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy is a propitious occasion to promote in the world a growing maturity for ways to respect life and the dignity of each person. Because even a criminal has the inviolable right to life, a gift of God. I appeal to the consciences of leaders, that they come to an international consensus aimed at abolishing the death penalty. And to those among them who are Catholic, may they carry out an act of courage, giving an example that the death penalty not be applied in this Holy Year of Mercy.

All Christians and men and women of good will are called today to work towards abolishing the death penalty, as well as improving prison conditions, in respect of human dignity and of those people deprived of freedom.

Lent is an opportune time to travel a path of conversion that has mercy at its centre. Because of this, I’ve decided to give to those who are here in the square some “spiritual medicine” called “Misericordina”. We did this once before, but this one is better, it is “Misericordina-Plus”: a little box that has a rosary ring and a little image of the Merciful Jesus. Volunteers, including the poor, the homeless, refugees and also religious, will now distribute them. Receive this gift as a spiritual aid to spread pardon and fraternity, especially in this Year of Mercy.

I wish all of you a good Sunday, and please don’t forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and arrivederci!

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Sunday, February 28, 2016
KEGEMBIRAANKU SELAMA 29 TAHUN
tiup lilinnya

Umur saya genap 29 tahun. Umur yang masih muda sekali menurut ukuran orang Italia. Memang, fisik saya kelihatan muda. Masih anak remaja, komentar beberapa orang. Padahal di Indonesia, umur 29 tahun sudah digolongkan matang. Bukan lagi anak remaja tetapi sudah dewasa sekali bahkan bisa bertanggung jawab dan diserahi tanggung jawab.

Saya tidak mempersoalkan komentar orang tersebut. Mereka memang berhak untuk berkomentar atas saya. Tetapi, saya selalu gembira merayakan hari kelahiran saya. Demikian juga dengan umur 29 tahun. Hitung-hitung tinggal 1 tahun lagi genap 30 tahun. Saya membayangkan akan terjadi sesuatu yang lebih istimewa di hari ulang tahun yang ke-30 itu. Tanpa menunggu umur 30, sebenarnya, pada umur 29 ini saja sudah ada kegembiraan itu. Ya, hari ini saya gembira sekali merayakan hari istimewa ini bersama teman-teman.

Seperti biasa, teman-teman di Indonesia sudah mengirim terlebih dahulu ucapan SELAMAT ULANG TAHUN pada saya melalui facebook. Mereka memang lebih dahulu 6-8 jam ketimbang kami di Italia. Perbedaan waktulah yang membuat semua ini misalnya dengan WIT beda 8 jam, WITA 7 jam dan WIB 6 jam. Ucapan lain muncul menurut waktu Italia. Tentu dari teman-teman saya di Italia. Yang uniknya lagi, ucapan yang ada lebih banyak dari tahun lalu. Tahun ini hampir 200-an ucapan. Dihitung dengan mereka yang mengirim lewat pesan inbox facebook yang jumlahnya hampir 20-an. Tambah dengan mereka yang menulis di dinding facebook sekitar 180-an. Panjang sekali daftarnya. Lebih panjang lagi karena ucapannya datang hingga tanggal 19 Februari. Dari 15 sampai 19, 4 hari.

Kegembiraan ulang tahun ini rupanya tidak boleh lama-lama. Hanya 2 hari saja. Tanggal 15 dan 16. Tanggal 16 malam, saya harus masuk dalam kesedihan lagi. Sayang sekali padahal belum sempat telepon ke rumah. Tanggal 16 sampai 20 saya terbaring di tempat tidur. Saya kena influenza yang kebetulan sedang mewabah di Parma dan sekitarnya. Kesannya menjadi lain. Saya langsung memberi label, hari ulang tahun yang membawa sakit. Saya tidak mau menyebutnya sial sebab belum tentu ini sial. Saya justru menggunakan waktu ini untuk bergumul dengan diri saya sendiri dan dengan Tuhan. Setiap hari saya berdoa rosario lebih dari 2-3 kali. Saya ingin menyatukan penderitaan ini dengan penderitaan Tuhan. Apalagi saya merasa dekat sekali dengan Tuhan dalam hari-hari penantian ini. Banyak teman datang ke kamar, menjenguk saya. Ada yang membantu mengantar makanan dan minuman, ada yang sekadar menayankan keadaan saya, ada juga yang datang bercanda. Ada pula yang tidak sempat datang karena sibuk. Saya membiarkan kamar saya tertutup tetapi tidak terkunci 24 jam seperti biasa. Tak heran jika ada yang datang pada malam hari saat saya tidur. Saya tahu mereka begitu baik pada saya. Saya melihat Tuhan lewat mereka yang datang dan hadir di depan saya. Sungguh ini bukan lompatan iman. Ini adalah cara saya memaknai sakit saya selama beberapa hari ini.


Suhu tubuh naik turun, batuk keras, kepala pusing, tidak ada nafsu makan, tulang punggung dan bagian belakang terasa sakit. Inilah gejala yang saya alami pada malam pertama. Sampai-sampai saya tidak bisa tidur nyenyak. Tidak nyaman pokoknya. Untunglah saya lewatkan malam ini. Pagi hari, saya menelepon teman saya agar jangan menunggu saya ke sekolah. Saya sakit, kata saya, kalian pergi saja. Tidak lama kemudian datang seorang teman ke kamar membawa sarapan. Dia membawa juga kegembiraan pada saya. Katanya, ada dokter Gildo. Saya dan dia berharap agar dokter ini datang menemui saya atau minimal melihat keadaan saya. Harapan kami terkabulkan. Dokter Gildo satang.

“Sakit kepala, panas?” tanyanya pada saya. Dia datang dengan Pastor Alfio SX yang mengetuk pintu kamar saya.
“Ya dok. Lalu, bagian belakang juga rasanya sakit, tidak nyaman untuk tidur,” sambung saya.
“Semuanya saya sudah mengerti. Ini influenza. Di luar sana sedang berjangkit influenza. Minum paracetamol dan tidur,” balasnya tegas.

Setelahnya, mereka keluar dan saya minum obat paracetamol yang diantar oleh Pastor Alfio ke kamar saya. Hari-hari berikutnya saya lalui di dalam kamar sampai Sabtu 20 Februari. Hari Sabtu saya ikut doa pagi. Rencananya mau ke sekolah tetapi rupanya belum kuat. Saya pun tinggal dan istirahat di kamar. Tidak bisa beraktivitas di luar. Daripada tidur terus, saya membaca buku.

Rupanya butuh waktu lama untuk memulihkan keadaan ini. Dari Sabtu yang lalu itu, hari ini baru saya bisa menulis kenangan indah ini. Butuh waktu 1 minggu. Totalnya dari sakit sampai sekarang 2 minggu. Hari ini, batuk kering masih ada, panas sudah hilang, flu juga hilang. Entah sampai kapan batuk kering ini. Semoga cepat sembuh.

Hari Minggu yang lalu saya sudah telepon ke rumah. Bapak ibu dan adik-adik sehat. Saya gembira mendengar keadaan mereka baik-baik begini. Kegembiraan yang dicampur dengan kesedihan. Saya dengan sedih menyampaikan pada Mama bahwa saya baru saja sembuh dari sakit dan sedang sakit kecil-kecilan juga. Mama yang sebelumnya senang dan mengucapkan selamat ulang tahun pada saya langsung berubah nada suaranya. Tetapi saya meyakinkannya bahwa saya sudah sembuh. Dia kemudian membalasnya dengan nada suara gembira seperti sebelumnya. Rupanya mereka sedang merayakan ulang tahun dari adik saya paling kecil. Jadi, tidak apa-apalah saya ikut gembira bersama mereka.

Saya berterima kasih pada Tuhan atas pengalaman indah di hari ulang tahun ke-29 ini. Meski sakit setelahnya, saya tetap mengucapkan terima kasih pada Dia dan juga pada teman-teman. Sungguh Tuhan Yesus dan teman-teman hadir bersama saya dalam sakit saya selama hampir 2 minggu ini. Saya memang tidak banyak beraktivitas. Saya banyak diamnya. Dalam diam saya memikirkan teman-teman saya yang membantu saya. Saya memikirkan Tuhan Yesus yang begitu baik mengirim teman-teman ini untuk membantu saya. Makanya saya juga ingin menjalin relasi yang dekat dengan Tuhan. Satu-satunya doa yang bisa saya panjatkan selama sakit adalah doa rosario. Maka, saya mendaraskannya sambil tidur atau kadang-kadang duduk, dari 2-3 kali atau lebih dalam sehari. Rasa-rasanya saya berdialog langsung dengan Tuhan dalam doa tersebut. Terima kasih Tuhan.

PARMA, 27/2/2016

Gordi
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Sunday, February 28, 2016
LASCIAMOCI CONVERTIRE DAL SIGNORE
Letture di Domenica 28 febbraio 2016, C/II Es 3, 1-8a.13-15; salmo 102 (103); 1Cor 10, 1-6.10-12: Lc 13, 1-9
 
conversione di san paolo, FOTO: qui
Leggendo il brano del vangelo di questa domenica, mi sono fermato sulla parola convertirsi. Semplicemente una parola che significa cambiarsi. Abbiamo letto nel brano come Gesù ci mostra questa conversione. Interessante. Quindi, il fine è conversione. Gesù ci da anche il momento speciale per convertirci. Nella chiesa c’è almeno 40 giorni durante la quaresima. Ovvio che c’è sempre i momenti fuori di questo ma come la chiesa in generale ha questi 40 giorni. Ovvio anche che chi ha bisogna di momento speciale lo può farlo ogni momento, quando vuoi. È bello no, la chiesa ci da questa possibilità.

Vedendo la mia vita quotidiana, mi rendo che è molto difficile da praticare questa parola ‘convertirsi’. Ho fatto varie volte la promessa con Dio sia in una cosa piccola sia grande. A volte sono riuscito a cambiarmi, ma a volte è difficilissimo anche se solo una piccola cosa. Per me non basta avere 40 giorni perché so che non è sufficiente. Quindi, convertirsi per me anzi che per 40 giorni è di più, per tutta la vita. La conversione che possiamo fare è la conversione quotidiana. Sulla qualità della conversione è un pò difficile anche da misurare. Perciò direi che alla fine la conversione per me è un momento speciale di lasciarmi guidare dal Signore, lasciarmi toccare dalla sua misericordia e dal suo amore.

Buona domenica


Gordi
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Sunday, February 28, 2016
IL RITIRO E LA VERIFICA A VILLA SANTA MARIA, GIAIANO-PARMA
 
La villa da fuori
Giovedì 25 febbraio abbiamo fatto la verifica e il ritiro mensile alla vila santa Maria, giaiano-parma. Circa 45 minuti in macchina da Parma. È un bel posto. Un pò più in alto rispetto a Parma, come in un mezzo colline. Lì abbiamo incontrato una famiglia pakistana che gestisce la casa.

Il programma di oggi è la verifica, il pranzo e la messa. Partendo dalle 9.15 fino al 11.30, la prima condivisione, intervallo 15 minuti poi continuiamo la condivisone fino al pranzo alle 12.30. Dopo pranzo dalle 14.30 fino 16.00 abbiamo ancora un altro incontro. Poi, concludiamo con la messa. Dopo messa siamo tornati a Parma.


Ho fatto qualche foto così i lettori possono godere questa casa.







le altre foto, qui
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Sunday, February 28, 2016
EXTRAORDINARY JUBILEE OF MERCY
JUBILEE AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Saturday, 20 February 2016

Mercy and commitment

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
The Jubilee of Mercy is a true opportunity to enter deeply into the mystery of the goodness and love of God. In this Season of Lent, the Church invites us to learn to know the Lord Jesus ever better, and to live the faith in a consistent way with a lifestyle that expresses the mercy of the Father. It is a commitment that we are called to take on in order to offer to those we meet the concrete sign of God’s closeness. My life, my attitude, the way of going through life, must really be a concrete sign of the fact that God is close to us. Small gestures of love, of tenderness, of care, that make people feel that the Lord is with us, is close to us. This is how the door of mercy opens.

Today I would like to pause briefly to reflect with you on the theme of this expression I used: the theme of commitment. What is a commitment? What does it mean to be committed? When I commit myself, it means that I assume a responsibility, a task, for someone; it also means the way, the attitude of faithfulness and dedication, the particular care with which I carry out this task. Each day we are asked to put our heart and soul into what we do: prayer, work, study, but also in sport and recreation.... Committing ourselves, in other words, means making every effort to do our best in order to improve life.



God too has committed himself to us. His first commitment was that of creating the world, and despite our attempts to ruin it — and there are many — He is committed to keeping it alive. But his greatest commitment was that of giving us Jesus. This is God’s great commitment! Yes, Jesus is really the supreme commitment that God has assumed for us. St Paul also recalled this when he wrote that God “did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Rom 8:32). Accordingly, together with Jesus, the Father will give us everything that we need.

How is God’s commitment to us made manifest? It is very easy to verify it in the Gospel. In Jesus, God completely committed himself in order to restore hope to the poor, to those who were deprived of dignity, to strangers, to the sick, to captives, and to sinners, whom he welcomed with kindness. In all this, Jesus was the living expression of the Father’s mercy. I would like to touch upon this: Jesus welcomed sinners with kindness. If we think in a human way, a sinner would be an enemy of Jesus, an enemy of God, but he approached them with kindness, he loved them and changed their hearts. We are all sinners: everyone! We all have some fault before God, but we must not harbour doubt. He approaches us in order to give us comfort, mercy, forgiveness. This is God’s commitment and this is why he sent Jesus: to draw close to us, to all of us, and to open the door of his love, of his heart, of his mercy. This is really beautiful. Very beautiful!

Starting with the merciful love through which Jesus expressed God’s commitment, we too can and must reciprocate his love with our commitment, and do so above all in serious situations of need, where there is a greater thirst for hope. I think, for example, of our commitment to forsaken people, to those who have severe disabilities, to the most seriously ill, to the dying, to those who are unable to express gratitude.... In all these situations we convey God’s mercy through life-giving commitment, which witnesses to our faith in Christ. We must always bring God’s tender caress — because God has caressed us with his mercy — bringing it to others, to those who are in need, to those who have anguish in their hearts or are sad: approach them with God’s caress, which is the same that he gave to us.

May this Jubilee Year help our mind and our heart to experience God’s commitment to each one of us and, thanks to this, to transform life into a commitment of mercy for all.

Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience, especially those from Scotland, Norway and Latvia. With fervent wishes that the current Jubilee of Mercy may be for you and for your families a time of grace and spiritual renewal. I invoke upon all of you the joy and peace of the Lord Jesus. May God bless you!

I address a special thought to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. Monday, 22 February, will be the Feast of the Chair of the Apostle Peter, a special day of communion of believers with the Successor of St Peter and with the Holy See. This event, in this Holy Year, will be a Jubilee Day for the Roman Curia, which works daily at the service of the Christian people. I exhort you to continue to pray for my universal Ministry and I thank you for your commitment to the daily building up of the ecclesial community.
  
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Monday, February 22, 2016
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Study Center of Ecatepec
First Sunday of Lent, 14 February 2016



My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the first reading of this Sunday, Moses offers a directive to the people. At harvest time, a the time of abundance and first fruits, do not forget your beginnings, do not forget where you came from. Thanksgiving is something which is born and grows among a people capable of remembering. It is rooted in the past, and through good and bad times, it shapes the present. In those moments when we can offer thanks to God for the earth giving us its fruits and thereby helping us make bread, Moses invites his people to remember by enumerating the difficult situations through which it has passed (cf. Deut 26:5-11).

On this festive day we can celebrate how good the Lord has been to us. Let us give thanks for this opportunity to be together, to present to our Good Father the first fruits of our children, our grandchildren, of our dreams and our plans; the first fruits of our cultures, our languages and our traditions, the first fruits of our concerns.... How much each one of you has suffered to reach this moment, how much you have “walked” to make this day a day of feasting, a time of thanksgiving. How much others have walked, who have not arrived here and yet because of them we have been able to keep going. Today, at the invitation of Moses, as a people we want to remember, we want to be the people that keeps alive the memory of God who passes among his People, in their midst. We look upon our children knowing that they will inherit not only a land, a culture and a tradition, but also the living fruits of faith which recalls the certainty of God’s passing through this land. It is a certainty of his closeness and of his solidarity, a certainty which helps us lift up our heads and ardently hope for the dawn.

I too join you in this remembrance, in this living memory of God’s passing through your lives. As I look upon your children I cannot but make my own the words which Blessed Pope Paul VI addressed to the Mexican people: “A Christian cannot but show solidarity... to solve the situation of those who have not yet received the bread of culture or the opportunity of an honourable job... he cannot remain insensitive while the new generations have not found the way to bring into reality their legitimate aspirations”. And then Blessed Paul VI continued, offering this invitation to “always be on the front line of all efforts... to improve the situation of those who suffer need”, to see in every man a brother and, in every brother Christ” (Radio Message on the 75th Anniversary of the Crowning of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 12 October 1970).

I invite you today to be on the front line, to be first in all the initiatives which help make this blessed land of Mexico a land of opportunities, where there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream, no need to be exploited in order to work, no need to make the despair and poverty of many the opportunism of a few, a land that will not have to mourn men and women, young people and children who are destroyed at the hands of the dealers of death.

This land is filled with the perfume of la Guadalupana who has always gone before us in love. Let us say to her, with all our hearts:
Blessed Virgin, “help us to bear radiant witness to communion, service, ardent and generous faith, justice and love of the poor, that the joy of the Gospel may reach to the ends of the earth, illuminating even the fringes of our world” (EG 288).

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Monday, February 15, 2016
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 7 February 2016



Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
This Sunday’s Gospel tells us — in St Luke’s narrative — of the call of Jesus’ first disciples (5:1-11). The event takes place in the context of everyday life: there are several fishermen on the shore of the lake of Galilee, who, after working all night and catching nothing, are washing and arranging their nets. Jesus gets into one of the boats, that of Simon, called Peter, whom he asks to put out a little from the shore, and he starts to preach the Word of God to the crowd of people who had gathered. When he is finished speaking, he tells them to put out into the deep and cast the nets. Simon had previously met Jesus and felt the prodigious power of his word. Therefore, he responds: “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets” (v. 5). And this faith of his did not disappoint: indeed, the nets filled with so many fish that they nearly broke (cf. v. 6). Facing this extraordinary event, the fishermen are greatly astonished. Simon Peter throws himself at Jesus’ feet, saying: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (v. 8). That prodigious sign convinces him that Jesus is not only a formidable master whose word is true and powerful, but he is the Lord, he is the manifestation of God. For Peter this close presence brings about a strong sense of his own pettiness and unworthiness. From a human point of view, he thinks that there should be distance between the sinner and the Holy One. In truth, his very condition as a sinner requires that the Lord not distance Himself from him, in the same way that a doctor cannot distance himself from those who are sick.

Jesus’ response to Simon Peter is reassuring and decisive: “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men” (v. 10). Once again the fisherman of Galilee, placing his trust in this word, leaves everything and follows the one who has become his Lord and Master. Simon’s workmates, James and John, do the same. This is the logic that guides Jesus’ mission and the mission of the Church: go in search, “fish” for men and women, not to proselytize, but to restore full dignity and freedom to all, through the forgiveness of sins. This is the essential point of Christianity: to spread the free and regenerative love of God, with a welcoming and merciful attitude toward everyone, so that each person can encounter God’s tenderness and have the fullness of life. Here, in a particular way, I think of confessors: they are the first who must give the Father’s mercy, following Jesus’ example, as did the two holy Brothers, Fr Leopold and Padre Pio.

Today’s Gospel challenges us: do we know how to truly trust in the Word of the Lord? Or do we let ourselves become discouraged by our failures? In this Holy Year of Mercy we are called to comfort those who feel they are sinners, unworthy before the Lord, defeated by their mistakes, by speaking to them the very words of Jesus: “Do not be afraid. The Father’s mercy is greater than your sins! It is greater, do not be afraid!”. May the Virgin Mary help us to ever better understand that being disciples means placing our feet in the footsteps left by the Master: they are the footprints of divine grace that restore life for all.

APPEAL
With deep concern I am following the dramatic circumstances of the civilian populations involved in the violent conflicts in beloved Syria, forced to abandon everything in order to escape the horrors of war. I hope that with generous solidarity, the necessary help is given to them in order to secure their survival and dignity, while I appeal to the international community to spare no effort to urgently bring the concerned parties to the negotiating table. Only a political solution to the conflict will be able to guarantee a future of reconciliation and peace to that dear and martyred country, for which I invite fervent prayer; now let us also pray together to Our Lady for beloved Syria: Hail Mary,....


After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, today in Italy the Day for Life is being celebrated, with the theme “Mercy makes life blossom”. I join with the Italian Bishops to hope for, on the part of the various educational and social institutions, a renewed commitment in favour of human life from conception to its natural end. Our society must be helped to heal from all the attacks on life, by daring to make an inner change, which is also manifested through works of mercy. I greet and encourage the university professors in Rome and those who are committed to testify to the culture of life.

Tomorrow the Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking will be celebrated. It will give everyone the opportunity to help the victims of today’s new forms of slavery to break the heavy chains of exploitation in order to take back their freedom and dignity. I think in particular of the many women and men, and the many children! It is important to make every effort to destroy this crime and this intolerable shame.

Again tomorrow, in the Far East and in various parts of the world, millions of men and women will celebrate the lunar new year. I wish that all may experience peace and serenity in the heart of their families, which is the first place in which we live and pass on the values of love and fraternity, of coexistence and sharing, of attention and care for others. May the new year bear the fruits of compassion, mercy and solidarity. With a round of applause from here, let us greet these brothers and sisters of the Far East, who tomorrow will be celebrating the lunar new year!

I greet all the pilgrims, parish groups and associations from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ecuador, Slovakia and other countries. There are too many to list them all!

I greet the priestly community of the Mexican College of Rome, with other Mexicans: thank you for your commitment to accompany with prayer the apostolic journey to Mexico that I will be making in a few days, as well as the meeting that I will have in Havana with my dear brother Kirill.

I wish everyone a happy Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch! Arrivederci!


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Tuesday, February 09, 2016
GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Wednesday, 3 February 2016



6. Mercy and justice

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning,
Sacred Scripture presents God to us as infinite mercy and as perfect justice. How do we reconcile the two? How does one reconcile the reality of mercy with the demands of justice? It might appear that the two contradict each other; but in fact it is not so, for it is the very mercy of God that brings true justice to fulfilment. But what kind of justice are we talking about?

If we think of the legal administration of justice, we see that those who consider themselves victims of injustice turn to a judge in a tribunal and ask that justice be done. It is retributive justice, which inflicts a penalty on the guilty party, according to the principle that each person must be given his or her due. As the Book of Proverbs says: “He who is steadfast in righteousness will live, but he who pursues evil will die” (11:19). Jesus, too, speaks about it in the parable of the widow who went repeatedly to the judge and asked him: “Vindicate me against my adversary” (Lk 18:3). This path however does not lead to true justice because in reality it does not conquer evil, it merely checks it. Only by responding to it with good can evil be truly overcome.

There is then another way of doing justice, which the Bible presents to us as the royal road to take. It is a process that avoids recourse to the tribunal and allows the victim to face the culprit directly and invite him or her to conversion, helping the person to understand that they are doing evil, thus appealing to their conscience. In this way, by finally repenting and acknowledging their wrong, they can open themselves to the forgiveness that the injured party is offering them. And this is beautiful: after being persuaded that what was done was wrong, the heart opens to the forgiveness being offered to it. This is the way to resolve conflicts in the family, in the relationship between spouses or between parents and children, where the offended party loves the guilty one and wishes to save the bond that unites them. Do not sever that bond, that relationship.

Certainly, this is a difficult journey. It requires that those who have been wronged be ready to forgive and desire good and salvation for their offender. Only in this way can justice triumph, because thus, if the culprit acknowledges the evil done and ceases to do it, the evil is no more; and he who was unjust becomes just, because he is forgiven and is helped to rediscover the path of goodness. And this is where forgiveness and mercy come in.

This is how God acts towards us sinners. The Lord continually offers us his pardon and helps us to accept it and to be aware of our wrong-doing so as to free us of it. For God wants not our condemnation, but our salvation. God does not want to condemn anyone! One of you might ask me: “But Father, didn’t Pilate deserve condemnation? Did God want that?” No! God wanted to save Pilate as well as Judas, everyone! He, the Lord of Mercy, wants to save everyone! The difficulty is in allowing him to enter our hearts. Every word of the prophets is a passionate appeal full of love which seeks our conversion. This is what the Lord says through the Prophet Ezekiel: “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked... and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (18:23; cf. 33:11), that’s what pleases God!

This is the heart of God, the heart of a Father who loves and wants his children to live in goodness and in justice, and thus that they might live to the fullest and be happy. The heart of a Father who goes beyond our little concept of justice to open us to the limitless horizons of his mercy. His is the heart of a Father who does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according to our faults, as the Psalm says (103[102]:9-10). His is precisely the heart of the father whom we want to encounter when we go to the confessional. Perhaps he will say something to help us better understand our sin, but we all go to find a father who helps us to change our lives; a father who gives us the strength to go on; a father who forgives us in the name of God. That is why being a confessor is such an important responsibility, because that son, that daughter who comes to you is only looking for a father. And you, priest in the confessional, you are there in the place of the Father who does justice with his mercy.

Special greetings:
I offer an affectionate greeting to all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Audience, including those from the United States of America. May you open your lives to the Lord’s gift of mercy, and share this gift with everyone you know. May you be children of the Good Father, missionaries of his merciful love. May God bless you all!

A warm welcome to the Italian-speaking pilgrims! I am delighted to welcome the faithful from the Diocese of Livorno, with Bishop Simone Giusti; participants of the seminar hosted by the University of Santa Croce; students of the Swiss School of Rome and artists of the American Circus. And I thank you! I would like to repeat what I said a week ago, when there was a show like this. You create beauty, and beauty brings us ever closer to God. Thank you for this. But there is another thing that I would like to stress: this is not improvised; behind this spectacle of beauty, there are hours and hours of training that is exhausting. Training is exhausting! The Apostle Paul tells us that in order to arrive at the end and in order to overcome we must train; and this is an example for us all, that the seduction of the easy life, finding a good outcome without making any effort, is a temptation. With what you have done today, and with all the training behind it, you bear witness to us that life without continuous effort is a mediocre life. Thank you so much for your example.

I address an affectionate thought to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. Today we remember St Blaise, the martyr of Armenia. This holy bishop reminds us of the commitment to proclaim the Gospel even in difficult conditions. Dear young people, become courageous witnesses of your faith; dear sick people, offer up your cross every day for the conversion of those far from the light of Christ; and you, dear newlyweds, be proclaimers of his love, beginning in your family.

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