{"id":12386,"date":"2015-12-26T16:01:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-26T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/let-gods-forgiveness-heal-your-heart-pope-francis-says-after-christmas-98934\/"},"modified":"2015-12-26T16:01:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-26T16:01:00","slug":"let-gods-forgiveness-heal-your-heart-pope-francis-says-after-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/12\/let-gods-forgiveness-heal-your-heart-pope-francis-says-after-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Let God’s forgiveness heal your heart, Pope Francis says after Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Vatican City, Dec 26, 2015 \/ 09:01 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- For Pope Francis, the path forward from Christmas can be found in the martyrdom of St. Stephen, especially in his transforming forgiveness of his persecutors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to move forward in faith, first of all we must receive the forgiveness of God. We must meet the Father, who is ready to forgive everything and always,\u201d Pope Francis told a crowd gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square before the Angelus prayers Saturday.<\/p>\n

Forgiveness \u201cheals the heart and revives love,\u201d he added. \u201cWe must never tire of asking God\u2019s forgiveness, because only when we are forgiven\u2013when we feel forgiven\u2013we learn to forgive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope\u2019s Dec. 26 remarks reflected on the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, whose feast day falls on the day after Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday we contemplated the merciful love of God who became flesh for us. Today we see the consistent response of the disciple of Jesus, who gives his life,\u201d Pope Francis said. \u201cYesterday the Savior was born on earth. Today his faithful witness is born to heaven. Yesterday, as today, the darkness of the denial of life appears. But shining still stronger is the light of love that overcomes hatred and inaugurates a new world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope cited Stephen\u2019s forgiveness before he was killed by stoning. Stephen, one of the first Christians, asked God not to charge his murderers with their sin. St. Stephen acts like Jesus: he loves, he gives, and he especially forgives. Forgiveness is \u201cthe highest expression\u201d of giving, the Pope said.<\/p>\n

St. Stephen\u2019s death shows the power of forgiveness: the anti-Christian persecutor Saul was at the martyrdom. Saul soon became Paul, the great Christian apostle to the gentiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can say that Paul was born by the grace of God and the forgiveness of Stephen,\u201d the Pope said. \u201cWe too are born from God\u2019s forgiveness. Not only in baptism, but every time we are forgiven our heart is reborn, it is regenerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly when we are loved can we love ourselves,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He said that praying like St. Stephen is a way to imitate Jesus and to begin to forgive the small or great wrongs that each person suffers each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts from your heart: With prayer, we can face the resentment that we feel by entrusting those who have done evil to the mercy of God,\u201d Pope Francis said.<\/p>\n

Prayer and love \u201cset us free from the chains of inner resentment,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019s so bad to live in resentment! Every day we have the opportunity to train ourselves to forgive, to live this act that brings man closer to God. Like our Heavenly Father, we too become merciful, because through forgiveness we overcome evil with good, we transform hate into love and so we make the world more pure.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Angelus Pope Francis voiced his hope that the contemplation of the Christ Child, with Mary and Joseph, may inspire \u201can attitude of mercy and love for one another\u201d in all areas of life.<\/p>\n

He voiced his \u201cheartfelt thanks\u201d for the many greetings he had received, especially giving thanks for \u201cthe gift of prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Vatican City, Dec 26, 2015 \/ 09:01 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- For Pope Francis, the path forward from Christmas can be found in the martyrdom of St. Stephen, especially in his transforming forgiveness of his persecutors.<\/p>\n

“If we want to move forward in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nLet God's forgiveness heal your heart, Pope Francis says after Christmas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Dec 26, 2015 \/ 09:01 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- For Pope Francis, the path forward from Christmas can be found in the martyrdom of St. Stephen, especially in his transforming forgiveness of his persecutors. “If we want to move forward in...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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