At the general audience in the Paul VI Hall, Pope Francis compares the miracle of the widow of Nain to the change every person undergoes passing through the Holy Door. "Drawing towards the Door of Mercy, everyone knows they are drawing close to the door of the merciful heart of God, of Jesus". “This is the door where the suffering of humanity encounters the compassion of God". From a change of "heart" to the "hands" that perform "acts of mercy". Holy Doors are both "inward" and "outward bound".
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - At the Door of Mercy, "Jesus is watching you, he heals you and says, 'get up!'". "Healed by Jesus to do works with our heart and hands ... works of mercy”, emphasized Pope Francis in the Jubilee catechesis he gave today in the Paul VI hall to pilgrims to Rome, including those from Asia, the Middle East and Indonesia.
Before his speech Francis spent a long time greeting the rows of pilgrims on either side of the hall. Some of them gifted him a papal biretta (see photo). Francis compared the story of Jesus and the widow of Nain (Lk 7.11 to 17), at the city gate, to Jesus meeting every person who passes through the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Mercy "what Jesus did ... is not only an action of salvation destined to the widow and her son, or a gesture of kindness limited to that town. In Jesus' merciful succour, God goes to meet his people, in him all the grace of God appears and will continue to appear to humanity. In celebrating this Jubilee, I wanted all of the particular Churches to experience this, that is, all the churches of world, and not only Rome. It is as if the whole Church throughout the world is joined in the one song of praise to the Lord. Today too the Church recognizes a visit from God. For this reason, Drawing towards the Door of Mercy, everyone knows that they are drawing near to the merciful heart of God, of Jesus: indeed he is the true Door that leads to salvation and returns us to a new life".
Earlier, the Pope explained that the center of the Gospel "is not the miracle [of the resurrected son], but Jesus' tenderness toward this boy's mother. Here, mercy takes the name of great compassion toward a woman who had lost her husband and now her only son is also bound for the cemetery. This mother's great sorrow moves Jesus and causes the miracle of the resurrection".
"St. Luke remarks on Jesus' feelings:"The Lord saw her and had compassion for her and said to her: '“Do not weep.”Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still "(vv. 13-14). Great compassion guided the actions of Jesus: it is he who stops the procession touching the coffin and, moved by deep compassion for this mother, decides to face death, as it were, face to face. And he confronts it definitively, face to face, on the Cross. "
"When Jesus saw the mother crying, she entered his heart! Everyone arrives at the Holy Door everyone bringing with them their life, joys and sufferings, projects and failures, doubts and fears, and present them to the mercy of the Lord. We are confident that, at the Holy Door, the Lord is there closeby to encounter each one of us, to bring and offer his powerful words of comfort: "Do not weep!" ".
"This is the door of where the suffering of humanity encounters the compassion of God. We should always think about this: the suffering of humanity encounters the compassion of God .... The powerful word of Jesus can raise us and we also operate in the passage from death to life. His word revives us, gives hope, reviving tired hearts, opens us to a view of the world and of life that goes beyond suffering and death".
"Mercy, both in Jesus is in us - he concluded - is a journey that starts from the heart to reach the hands ... What does it mean? Jesus looks at you, heals you and says "get up" ... with our heart healed by Jesus we do work with our hands ... the works of mercy”.
To reinforce this thought, when it came time to say goodbye in Italian, the Pope quoted a bishop in his diocese who put up two Holy Doors, one marked "entrance” and the other“exit”: entering the first, our hearts are changed, exiting the second we are ready to express the compassion of Jesus in works of mercy towards others.