Pope Francis: the door of the Lord is always open [Daily Mass]

When Jesus approaches us, He always opens the doors and gives us hope. That was the message of Pope Francis this morning during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope said we must never fear the consolation of the Lord, but rather must ask for and seek that consolation that makes us feel the tenderness of God.

“Comfort, give comfort to my people.” Pope Francis began his homily by reflecting on the reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah, the book of the consolation of Israel. The Lord, he noted, approaches His people to comfort them, “to give them peace.” And this “work of consolation” is so strong that it “draws all things.” The Lord accomplishes a true re-creation:

“He re-creates things. And the Church never tires of saying that this re-creation is more wonderful than the creation. The Lord re-creates more wonderfully. And so He visits His people: re-creating, with that power. And the people of God always had this idea, this thought, that the Lord will come to visit them. We remember the last word of Joseph to his brothers: “When the Lord will visit you, you must take my bones with you.” The Lord will visit His people. It is the hope of Israel. But He will visit them with this consolation.”

“And the consolation,” he continued, “is this drawing all things, not once, but many times, with the universe and also with us.” This “drawing of the Lord,” the Pope said, has two dimensions that it is important to emphasize. “When the Lord approaches,” he said, “He gives us hope; the Lord draws us with hope. He always opens a door. Always.” When the Lord approaches, the Pope repeated, “he doesn’t close doors, He opens [them].” The Lord “in His nearness gives us hope, this hope that is a true strength in the Christian life. It is a grace, it is a gift”:

“When a Christian forgets hope — or worse, loses hope — his life is senseless. It’s as if his life hit a wall: there’s nothing. But the Lord comforts us and draws us forward with hope. And He does it with a special closeness to each one, because the Lord comforts His people and comforts each one of us. It’s beautiful how today’s reading ends: ‘Like a shepherd He feeds His flock; in His arms He gathers the lambs, carrying them in His bosom, and leading the ewes with care.’ That image of carrying the lambs in His bosom, and leading the ewes with care: that is tenderness. The Lord comforts us with tenderness.”

He continued, “God who is powerful “is not afraid of tenderness.” “He becomes tender, becomes a child, becomes small.” In the Gospel, he noted, Jesus says the same: “In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” In the eyes of the Lord, he added, “each one of us is very, very important. And He gives with tenderness.” And so He makes us “go forward, giving us hope.” This, he said again, “was the principle work of Jesus” in the forty days between the Resurrection and the Ascension: to comfort the disciples, to be close to them and give them consolation”:

“He was close to them and gave hope, He approached with tenderness. But we think of the tenderness He had with the Apostles, with Mary Magdalene, with those of Emmaus. He approached with tenderness: “Give me something to eat.” With Thomas: “Put your finger here.” The Lord is always this way. This is the consolation of the Lord. May the Lord give to all of us the grace to not be afraid of the consolation of the Lord, to be open: ask for it, seek it, because it is a consolation that will give us hope, and make us feel the tenderness of God the Father.”

Asia News translation:

Pope: When Jesus draws near, "He consoles," "always opens doors" and gives us the hope to move forward

When Jesus comes, "He consoles," "always opens doors" and gives us the hope to move forward. Pope Francis focused on this during Mass celebrated this morning at Casa Santa Marta, commenting on a passage from the Book of Isaiah the consolation of Israel.The Lord, he noted, draws near his people to comfort them, "to give them peace." And this "work of consolation" is so strong that it "makes all things new". The Lord carries out a true re-creation:
"He recreates things. And the Church does not tire of saying that this re-creation is more wonderful than creation. The Lord most wonderfully recreates. So He visits his people: recreating, with that power. The people of God always had this idea, this thought, that the Lord will come to visit them. We remember the last words of Joseph to his brothers : 'When the Lord will visit you carry with you my bones' . The Lord will visit His people. It is the hope of Israel. But he will visit them with this consolation".
"And the consolation - he continued - is this making all this new, not once but over and over again, with the universe and with us". The Pope noted it is important to emphasize two dimensions of this "making all things new of the Lord". "When the Lord comes - he said - he gives us hope; for the Lord makes us new with hope, He always opens a door. Always" . When the Lord comes to us, "He does not close doors, he opens them". The Lord "in his neighborhood - he added - gives us hope , this hope that is a real source of strength in the Christian life . It is a grace , a gift".
"When a Christian forgets hope, or worse loses hope , his life has no meaning . It is as if his life was in front of a wall: nothing. But the Lord comforts us and makes us new with hope, to move forward. And He does so with a special closeness to everyone, because the Lord has comforted His people and consoled each of us. The ending of today's passage is beautiful: ' Like a shepherd he feeds his flock , and his arms he gathers , carries the lambs in his bosom , and gently leads the mother sheep'. That image of putting the lambs in his bosom, and gently leading the mothers: this is tenderness. The Lord comforts us with tenderness".

God who is mighty, he continued, "is not afraid of tenderness". "He becomes tenderness, becomes a child , makes himself small ." In the Gospel , he noted, Jesus himself says, " So it is the Father's will, that not one of these little ones be lost ." In the eyes of the Lord "each of us is very, very important. And He gives himself to us tenderly ." And so He helps us "move forward, giving us hope." This, he said again, "was the main work of Jesus" in the " 40 days between the Resurrection and the Ascension: comfort the disciples, draw close to them and give consolation".

"Drawing near and giving hope, drawing near with tenderness. But think of the tenderness he had with the apostles, Mary Magdalene , with the disciples of Emmaus. He drew near them with tenderness : 'Give me something to eat ' . With Thomas: ' Put your finger here'. The Lord is always this way. So is the consolation of the Lord. May the Lord give us grace to all of us not to be afraid of the consolation of the Lord, to be open: ask for it, seek it, because it is a consolation that will give us hope and make us feel the tenderness of God the Father".

Zenit translation:

Pope Francis: The Lord Comforts Us with Tenderness

The Lord brings consolation even in moments where we forget, or worse, lose hope, Pope Francis said during his homily today at morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta.

Reflecting on the first reading from the prophet Isaiah, the Holy Father noted God’s approach in the reading which was to comfort the people of Israel. In this peace, the Lord accomplishes a re-creation that “is more wonderful than the creation.”
“He visits His people: re-creating, with that power. And the people of God always had this idea, this thought, that the Lord will come to visit them,” the Pope said. “We remember the last word of Joseph to his brothers: ‘When the Lord will visit you, you must take my bones with you.’ The Lord will visit His people. It is the hope of Israel. But He will visit them with this consolation.”
This consolation, he said, brings the grace of hope which is the true strength of Christian life. “When a Christian forgets hope - or worse, loses hope - his life is senseless,” the Pope said. The Holy Father went on to say that God brings hope with a “special closeness” in order to truly comfort his people.
“It’s beautiful how today’s reading ends: ‘Like a shepherd He feeds His flock; in His arms He gathers the lambs, carrying them in His bosom, and leading the ewes with care.’ That image of carrying the lambs in His bosom, and leading the ewes with care: that is tenderness. The Lord comforts us with tenderness,” the Pope said.
Commenting on the Gospel, which recalled Jesus’ parable of the shepherd searching for the lost sheep, the 76 year old Pontiff said that it in God’s eyes, each one of us is very important. The main mission of Jesus in the days between his Resurrection and Ascension was to comfort the disciples.
“He was close to them and gave hope, He approached with tenderness. But we think of the tenderness He had with the Apostles, with Mary Magdalene, with those of Emmaus,” the Pope said.
Concluding his homily, Pope Francis asked that the Lord give all the grace to be open to the consolation of the Lord which brings us hope.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.