"He is the God of mercy, He never gets tired of forgiving. We are the ones who get tired of asking for forgiveness, but He never tires. Seventy times seven: always; onwards with forgiveness".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "The life of every person, of every man, every woman, who has the courage to approach the Lord, will find the joy of the celebration of God" because for those who have committed sins, the Lord is like the father of the prodigal son, "He always waits for us, always forgives us and celebrates us when we return".

Pope Francis has returned to reiterate, at Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta, his teaching on the mercy of God, who loves, "because He does not know what else to do". The Pope, Vatican Radio reports, focused his homily on the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Hosea. The Lord, he noted, speaks with tenderness. Even when "He invites us to conversion" and this word that "seems a bit strong', shows how within there is "this loving nostalgia of God". There is the call of the Father who says to his son: "Come back, it's time to come home". Thus, He has shown us that "with this world alone we can spend so many hours in prayer".

"This is our Father's heart, this is how God is: he never tires, He never tires! He has done this for so many centuries, with so much apostasy, so much apostasy of the people. And He always comes back, because our God is a God who waits. Since that afternoon in earthly paradise, Adam left Paradise with a sentence and also a promise. And He is faithful, the Lord is faithful to His promise, He can not deny Himself. He is faithful. And so He waited for us all, throughout history. God always waits for us".

Francis turned to the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Gospel of Luke, he recalled, tells us that the father sees his son from afar because he was waiting for him. This father, he added, "went out onto the terrace every day to see if his son had returned. He waited. And when he sees him, he rushed to him and fell upon him in an embrace.  "The son had prepared some words to say, but his father would not let him speak: "With his embrace he silenced his mouth".

"This is our Father, the God who waits for us. Always. 'But, Father, I have so many sins , I do not know if he will be content'. 'Just try! If you want to know the tenderness of this Father, go to him and try, then tell me all about it' . The God who waits for us. God who waits and God who forgives. He is the God of mercy, He never gets tired of forgiving. We are the ones who get tired of asking for forgiveness, but He never tires. Seventy times seven: always; onwards with forgiveness. From a business point of view, the budget is in the red.  He always looses: He looses in the budget of things but wins in love".

The Pope continued this is because He "is the first one to fulfil the commandment of love". "He loves - the Pope said - He does not know how to do anything else". And even "the miracles that Jesus did, with the many sick - he added - were also a sign of the great miracle that the Lord does for us every day, when we have the courage to get up and go to Him". And when this happens, the Pope said, God celebrates us. "I like the banquet of the rich man, who had Lazarus at his door," he warned, God "makes another banquet, like the father of the prodigal son".

"So that you will bloom like a lily', is the promise, 'I will celebrate you'. 'Your buds will spread and you will have the beauty of the olive tree and the fragrance of Lebanon'. The life of every person, of every man, every woman, who has the courage to approach the Lord, will find the joy of the celebration of God. So, this word will help us to think of our Father, the Father who always waits for us, who always forgives us and who celebrates us when we return".

 

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