{"id":5897,"date":"2014-03-28T18:13:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T18:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/god-never-tires-of-forgiving-us-pope-reflects\/"},"modified":"2014-03-28T18:13:00","modified_gmt":"2014-03-28T18:13:00","slug":"god-never-tires-of-forgiving-us-pope-reflects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/03\/god-never-tires-of-forgiving-us-pope-reflects\/","title":{"rendered":"God never tires of forgiving us, Pope reflects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Vatican City, Mar 28, 2014 \/ 12:13 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Pope Francis dedicated his homily at Friday\u2019s Mass to the mercy of God, emphasizing that while God is firm in his call for conversion, he is always waiting to receive the sinner with open arms.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe God of mercy; he does not tire of forgiving. We are the ones who tire in asking for forgiveness, but he does not tire,\u201d the Pope observed in his March 28 Mass.<\/p>\n

\tSpeaking to those gathered in the Vatican\u2019s Saint Martha guesthouse chapel, the Roman Pontiff began by calling attention to the day\u2019s first reading, taken from Hosea, in which the prophet encourages the people of Israel to return to the true God, and revealing to them the Lord\u2019s desire to make them prosper and bear fruit.<\/p>\n

\tFrom this book we are able to see how God always speaks to his people with tenderness, the Pope reflected.<\/p>\n

\tEven when God is strict in his invitation to convert, Pope Francis observed, his words always include \u201cthis loving longing\u201d which reflects the father\u2019s words to the prodigal son, \u201cCome back. It is time to come back home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis is the heart of our Father. God is like that: he does not tire, he does not tire. And God did this for many centuries, with so much apostasy\u2026 among the people. And he always returns, because our God is a God who waits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tRecalling how \u201cAdam left paradise with a punishment but also with a promise,\u201d the Roman Pontiff explained that \u201cthe Lord is faithful to his promise because he cannot deny himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHe is faithful. And, in this way, he waited for all of us, throughout all of history. He is the God who waits for us always.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tShifting his thoughts to the parable of the prodigal son, the Pope noted how Luke\u2019s Gospel reveals to us that the father was waiting for his son\u2019s return and that he \u201cwent onto the terrace every day to see if his son would return. He waited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhen he saw him, he went out in haste and \u2018threw himself on his neck,\u2019\u201d Pope Francis noted, emphasizing that although \u201cthe son had prepared some words to say,\u201d his father \u201cdid not let him speak; his embrace covered his mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tObserving how there are some who are far from the Church who might say, \u201cBut father, I have so many sins, I do not know if he will be happy,\u201d Pope Francis echoed the words a priest might say in response, encouraging the person \u201cBut try!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIf you want to know the tenderness of this Father, go to him and try. Then come and tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tNoting that God will not tire of forgiving us our sins, the Pope said: \u201cSeventy times seven, always.\u201d
\n\t\u201cLet us go forward with forgiveness,\u201d Pope Francis stated, adding that \u201cfrom a business point of view, the balance is negative. He always loses: he loses in the balance of things, but he wins in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHowever, God \u201cis the first to fulfill the commandment of love,\u201d he noted, highlighting that \u201che loves and does not know how to do otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tPope Francis concluded his homily by drawing attention to the miracles of healing which Jesus performed, explaining that the curing of the sick is \u201ca sign of the great miracle that every day the Lord does with us when we have the courage to get up and go to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tWhen a sinner returns to God, he does not celebrate \u201clike the banquet of the rich man, who had the poor Lazarus at his door,\u201d the Roman Pontiff observed, but rather, \u201che holds a banquet, like the father of the prodigal son.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tEach person who has the courage to approach God \u201cwill find the joy\u201d of his feast, the Pope stated, praying that all would \u201cthink of our Father, who waits for us always and who always forgives us and celebrates our return.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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Vatican City, Mar 28, 2014 \/ 12:13 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Pope Francis dedicated his homily at Friday’s Mass to the mercy of God, emphasizing that while God is firm in his call for conversion, he is always waiting to receive the sinner with open ar…<\/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-5897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nGod never tires of forgiving us, Pope reflects<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Mar 28, 2014 \/ 12:13 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Pope Francis dedicated his homily at Friday’s Mass to the mercy of God, emphasizing that while God is firm in his call for conversion, he is always waiting to receive the sinner with open ar...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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