Vatican City (AsiaNews) - In order to communicate to us his tender fatherly love, God "needs our smallness, needs us to lower ourselves. And at the same time, He needs our wonder when we look for Him and find Him there, waiting for us", said Pope Francis in the homily in this morning's Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae, as he celebrated the "heart" of Jesus today.
In its report, Vatican Radio said that the pope began with the premise that God "gives us grace and the joy of celebrating in the heart of his Son, the great works of his love. We can say that today is the feast of the love of God in Jesus Christ, God's love for us, God's love in us".
"There are two aspects to this love. First, love is more about giving than receiving. Second, love is more about actions than words. When we say it's more about giving than receiving, that's because love communicates, it always communicates. And it's received by the one who is loved. And when we say that it's more about actions than words, that's because love always generates life and makes us grow."
In order to "understand God's love," we must seek the opposite of immensity, namely smallness, "the smallness of the heart." In fact, Moses told the Jewish people God chose it because it was "the smallest of all peoples."
Hence, Jesus praises the Father in the Gospel "because he hid divine things from the learned and revealed them to little children." Thus, what God is looking for in people is a "father-child relationship," gently touching them, saying "I am with you."
"This is the tenderness of our Lord and of His love; this is what He tells us and this gives us the strength to be tender. But if we feel we're strong, we'll never experience those gentle touches from the Lord, those gentle touches from Him that are so wonderful."
"'Don't be afraid, for I am with you and I'll hold your hand'... These are all words spoken by the Lord that help us to understand that mysterious love He has for us. And when Jesus speaks about Himself, he says: 'I am meek and humble of heart.' Even He, the Son of God, lowers himself to receive his Father's love."
Another special sign of God's love is that He loved us first. He is always "before we" and "is waiting for us," said Francis, who asked for the grace "of coming into this mysterious world, surprising us, at peace with this love that is communicated, giving us joy and leading us on the path of life as a child, by the hand."
"When we arrive, He's there. When we look for Him, He has already been looking for us. He is always in front of us, waiting to receive us in His heart, in His love. And these two things can help us understand the mystery of God's love for us. In order to communicate this, He needs us to be like small children, to lower ourselves. At the same time, He needs our wonder when we look for Him and find Him there, waiting for us."