Pope Francis: be open to the Gospel and to God’s surprises
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday said Christian freedom is to be found in being
docile to God’s Word.
Speaking during his homily at morning Mass in Casa Santa
Marta, the Pope said we must always be ready to welcome the message of the Gospel
and the surprises that God has in store for us.
Listen to the report by Linda
Bordoni...
God’s word
is alive and full of strength, it discerns the sentiments of the heart, but we must
be open to receive it. Speaking to those present for morning Mass in the Vatican,
the Pope highlighted the need to really welcome the message of the Gospel with an
attitude of docility and openness.
The Gospel – the Pope said – doesn’t just
tell us the things we want to hear. It is alive and strong and full of novelty; God’s
Word – he continued - is “free” and full of surprises because “our God is the God
of surprises, the God of the Revelation”.
And urging us to be malleable and
docile, he said we must ask ourselves whether we adapt ourselves to the novelties
of the Gospel? Or do we process the message until it becomes something different
to what God wants it to be?
And Francis reflected on the first reading
of the day in which the prophet Samuel reprimands King Saul for not obeying the voice
of the Lord and for attempting to justify his disobedience by masking his greed with
generosity. The Pope said it is important is to have a docile and obedient heart,
listening to the voice of the Lord and doing what He commands us to do so that in
obeying Him, we share in His life and love. And this he – continued – leads us to
reflect on the true meaning of Christian “freedom” and of Christian “obedience”,
both of which – he said - are to be found in the Word of God and in the courage to
really be open to his message.