CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- On Wednesday Pope Francis warned against the hypocrisy that comes from believing that the ability to genuinely love others is based on our own efforts or goodness, rather than being only and always a gift from God.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are called to love, to charity: this is our highest calling, our vocation for excellence,\u201d he said March 15, asking: \u201chow can we be sure that our love is sincere, that our charity is genuine?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBehind all this there is a false idea, that is to say, if we love, it is because we are good; as if charity were man\u2019s creation, a product of our heart. Charity, however, is first and foremost a grace, a gift; to love is a gift of God, and we have to ask. And He gives it willingly, if we ask it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Showing love to others, Francis said, is not something that we do to shine a light on who or what we are, but to show better who God is, and what he freely gives to us.<\/p>\n
And the only way we can express this in our encounters with others is if we have encountered it first in the \u201cgentle and merciful face of Jesus.\u201d Without this, our charity is in danger of being hypocritical, he said.<\/p>\n
Speaking during the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter\u2019s Square, Pope Francis reflected on the passage from St. Paul\u2019s letter to the Romans, which says: \u201cLet love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord,\u201d the passage continues. \u201cRejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality.\u201d<\/p>\n
These things are not easy to do, the Pope said, but clarified that the words of St. Paul are not a reproach of all the times we fail or do not live up to the commandments.<\/p>\n
Instead, these words give us the grace of realizing that we cannot love perfectly on our own, but that \u201cwe need the Lord to continually renew this gift in our hearts, through the experience of his infinite mercy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPaul invites us to recognize that we are sinners, and that our way of loving is marked by sin. At the same time, however, he is the bearer of a new proclamation of hope: the Lord opens before us a way of liberation, of salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Above all, we have hope, he said, because even in our own failures we know that \u201cGod\u2019s love never fails,\u201d and if we ask, he will give us the grace to love more perfectly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Risen Lord who lives among us\u2026is able to heal our heart: he does, if we ask it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is he who allows us, despite our littleness and poverty, to experience the compassion of the Father, and to celebrate the wonders of his love.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, it is God himself who, taking residence in our hearts and in our lives, continues to be close and to serve all those we meet every day on our journey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When we invite God into our hearts, allowing ourselves to be loved by him, only then can we sincerely act out the great commandment \u201cto become instruments of God\u2019s love,\u201d Pope Francis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then, yes, we will return to appreciate the little things, simple and ordinary; and we will be able to love others as God loves them, wanting their good; that they be saints, friends of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pope concluded by saying that in doing this, we will \u201cbe happy for the chance to get closer to the poor and humble, as Jesus is with each of us when we are away from him, to bend at the foot of brothers, as he, the Good Samaritan, does with each of us, with his compassion and forgiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Vatican City, Mar 15, 2017 \/ 06:33 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis warned against the hypocrisy that comes from believing that the ability to genuinely love others is based on our own efforts or goodness, rather than being only and alway…<\/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-18722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\n
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