Pope speaks about loving hands of God wounded for the sake of love

November 12, 2013 - Man was created to be incorruptible but because of the envy of the Devil death came into the world. However, God has not abandoned man to his fate but leads him with his loving hands. Pope Francis shared this reflection in his homily at Mass Tuesday morning in the chapel of his Casa Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. The Pope took his cue from the Book of Wisdom, which recalled the creation saying, “God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made them.” But the Pope said that the envy of the Devil initiated a war – a road that ends with death. And death entered the world and they who are in the Devil’s possession experience it. The Holy Father admitted all of us have to pass through death, but warned that it is one thing to go through it belonging to the Devil, and another thing to go through it led by the hand of God. The Pope said it is nice to hear that we are in the hands of God from the beginning. The Bible explains creation using a beautiful picture – God with his hands made us from clay, from the earth in his image and likeness. Hence the hands of God have created us – God the artisan who made us. And the Pope assured these hands of God have not abandoned us, as He is our Father who teaches us to walk the path of life, of salvation. The hands of God caress and comfort us in painful moments, often with pardon. The Pope recalled a favourite imagery of his where Jesus shows his wounds to the Father as the price he paid. The hands of God wounded with love, is indeed a great consolation, the Pope said, urging all to confide in the Father like a child. The hands of God even heals us of our spiritual illnesses, he added.