Pope Francis: Even when scolding us, God’s hands never give us a slap but instead
a caress
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis reflects on the loving nature of God’s hands, saying
even when scolding us, these hands never give a slap but instead a caress. This
was the focus of his homily at the Tuesday morning mass at the Santa Marta Guest House.
Listen to this report by Susy Hodges:
In his homily
Pope Francis reflected on the reading from the Book of Wisdom that recalls how we
are created from the soil by God’s hands, “those hands which have never abandoned
us.” “God created man to be incorruptible,” said the Pope but the devil entered the
world and those who belong to him know all about it.
He went on: “We all
have to undergo death but it’s one thing to undergo this experience when belonging
to the devil and it’s another to undergo this experience when in the hands of God.”
“Our God, like a Father with his child, teaches us to walk, teaches us to walk along
the path of life and salvation. It’s God’s hands who caress us in our moments of
pain and who comforts us.” God’s hands, the Pope continued, “are hands that are
wounded from love” and who heal us. “I could never imagine those hands giving us
a slap, Never. Never.” “Even when he scolds us, he does it with a caress.”
The
Pope ended his homily by urging those present to reflect on “God’s hands who created
us like a craftsman.” They are wounded hands and they accompany us throughout life.
Let us, he said, “entrust ourselves into God’s hands like a child put its hand into
the hand of its father. It’s a safe hand.”