01/27/2015, 00.00
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Pope: "It is not easy" to do God’s will, for this we must pray to recognize it and follow it

Even for Jesus it wasn’t easy when he faced temptations in the wilderness or in the Gardens of Olives. It wasn’t easy either for his disciples, some of whom left him because they did not understand what “doing the Father’s will” meant. And neither is it easy for us, when each day we are faced with a tray of so many different options".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - To do the will of God "is not easy", for this we must pray "to have the desire" to follow it, to know it and "pray that - once known - we can proceed in doing the will of God ", said Pope Francis during Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta, commenting on Psalm of the day and the passage of the Letter to the Hebrews says, "Behold, I come - as it is written of me in the scroll - to do, O God, thy will. "

In this regard, the Pope noted that with in taking up the Cross - the act "that once and for all justified us" - Jesus demonstrated  that the more acceptable "sacrifice" to God was the offering of one's will to do the will of the Father, not the holocaust of animals, "ancient sacrifices "that t had neither the" strength" to " forgive sins", nor give" justice ".

This is the Christian path of holiness, namely that we carry out God's will.  The opposite began in Paradise with Adam's failure to obey.  And that disobedience brought evil to the whole of humanity.  And sins too are acts of disobedience towards God, of not doing God's will.  The Lord teaches us instead that this is the path, there is no other one.  And it begins with Jesus in Heaven, in his desire to obey the Father.  But here on earth it begins with Our Lady: what did she say to the Angel?  'Let it be done to me according to your word', namely that God's will is carried out.  And with that 'Yes' to the Lord, our Lord began his journey amongst us."

Pope Francis, stressed, however, that following God's will is not easy.  Even for Jesus it wasn't easy when he faced temptations in the wilderness or in the Gardens of Olives.  And, continued the Pope, it wasn't easy either for his disciples and neither is it easy for us, when each day we are faced with a tray of so many different options and that's why we need the gift of God's grace.

"Do I pray that the Lord gives me the desire to do his will, or do I look for compromises because I'm afraid of God's will?  Another thing: praying to know God's will for me and my life, concerning a decision that I must take now... there are so many things.  The way in which we handle things.... Praying for the desire to do God's will and praying to know God's will.  And when I know God's will, praying again for the third time, to follow it.  To carry out that will, which is not my own, it is His will.  And all this is not easy."

Pope Francis concluded "we need to pray to have the desire to follow God's will, pray to know God's will and once we know this, pray for the strength to go ahead and do His will. "The Lord grants His grace to all of us so that one day He can say about us  the same thing  that He said about that group, that crowd who followed Him, those who were seated around Him, just as we have heard in the Gospel: 'Here is my mother and my brothers and sisters.  Whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister and my mother.' Doing God's will makes us become part of Jesus' family, it makes us his mother, father, sister, brother."

 

 

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