Pope tells bishops to strive to make Mercy "pastoral"
Francis met participants at the annual training course organised jointly by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for Eastern Churches. Mercy is a "summary of what God offers to the world."
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis met this morning with the newly-appointed bishops who are taking part in a training course for new bishops organised by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
In a long speech, the pontiff tasked the bishops to “make mercy pastoral” so that it can form and inform Church institutions “as a summary of what God offers to the world." Mentioning first "the thrill" that comes from remembering God's calling, he said "He fished you” with the hook of his wonderful mercy. His nets mysteriously tightened and you could not help but let yourselves be caught. I know that there is still a thrill comes from remembering the calling coming through the voice of Church, His bride.” So it was for Moses, the prophets and the apostles, but also for the Pharisees and the thief crucified next to Jesus.
"May God save you from making that thrill in vain, domesticating it and emptying of his ‘destabilising’ power. Let it destabilise: the good one, for a bishop ... ". How “beautiful it is to let oneself be transfixed by the loving knowledge of God. It consoles us to know that He truly knows who we are and is not afraid of our smallness. It is reassuring to keep in the heart the memory of his voice that called us, despite our insufficiencies. Peace will come by letting ourselves go in the certainty that he, and not us, will accomplish what he began.
“Many people nowadays mask and conceal themselves. They like to build personalities and invent profiles. They become slaves to the miserable resources they gather and hang on to as if they were enough to buy love, which has no price. They are unable to bear the thrill of knowing that they are known by Someone Who is greater and Who does not despise our littleness, who is more Holy and does not reproach our weakness, who is truly good and is not scandalised by our wounds. May it not be so for you: let that thrill run through you, do not remove it or silence it”.
The pontiff made three suggestions to new bishops for the "huge task" of making mercy pastoral.
The first one is to “Make your ministry an icon of Mercy and the only force capable of seducing and attracting the heart of man in a permanent way. [. . .] However, it is not about attracting to oneself. The world is tired of dishonest charmers. And, I dare say, ‘fashionable’ priests and bishops. People sense this, the people of God have this sense and they refuse and distance themselves when they recognise narcissists, manipulators, defenders of their own causes, leaders of pointless crusades. Rather, seek to follow God, who already introduced Himself before your arrival.”
“God never gives up! Instead we, accustomed to surrender, who often give in, preferring to allow ourselves to be convinced that truly they were able to eliminate him and invent bitter arguments to justify the idleness that blocks us in the immobile sound of vain complaints. A bishop’s complaints are so ugly.”
Being able to initiate those in their trust is the second suggestion. “All that is great requires a path for entry. Especially divine Mercy, which is inexhaustible! Once seized by Mercy, this demands an introductory route, a path, a road, an initiation.”
Christ is the face of Mercy. In him it remains a permanent and inexhaustible offer. In Him it proclaims that no one is lost, no one is lost! For him, everyone is unique: the one sheep for whom he will brave a storm; the one coin bought with the price of his blood; the one son who died and was reborn (cf. Lk, 15). Please, I ask you to have no other perspective from which to look upon your faithful other than that of their uniqueness, leave no stone unturned in order to reach them, and spare no effort in recovering them”.
“Be bishops capable of initiating your Churches in this abyss of love. Today we ask for too much fruit from trees that have not been sufficiently cultivated. The sense of initiation has been lost, and yet the truly essential things in life may be reached solely through initiation. Think of the educational crisis, the transmission of both content and values, emotional illiteracy, vocational paths, discernment in families, the search for peace: all these require initiation and journeys guided with perseverance, patience and constancy, the signs that distinguish the good shepherd from the hireling”.
The pope’s third suggestion to the bishops is to accompany others like the Good Samaritan. “Making mercy pastoral is precisely this: conjugating it in verbs, making it palpable and functional. Men are in need of mercy. They unconsciously seek it. They know they are wounded; they feel it; they know they are half dead (cf. Lk, 10:30), even though they are afraid of acknowledging it. When they unexpectedly see mercy come, they come forward and put out a hand to beg for it. They are fascinated by its capacity to stop, when all others pass by; to stoop when a certain rheumatism of the soul prevents us from doing so; to touch wounded flesh when the prevailing preference is for the aseptic.”
“Be bishops with a heart wounded by a mercy like this, tireless in the humble task of accompanying the man that God, ‘by chance’, has placed in your way. Accompany especially priests and families, Francis said.
With respect to the clergy, the pontiff called for “great prudence and responsibility in welcoming candidates or incardinating priests in your local Churches. Remember that from the very beginning the relationship between a local Church and her priests is inseparable, and a vagrant clergy in transit from one place to another is never accepted. This is an illness of our times.”
“Reserve special accompaniment for all families, rejoicing with their generous love and encouraging the immense good they bestow in this world. Be watchful, above all, of those that are most wounded. Do not pass over their fragility. Stop to let your heart of shepherds is pierced by the vision of their injury; approach gently and without fear. Place before their eyes the joy of authentic love and the grace with which God elevates it to participation in His Love. Many need to rediscover it, others have never known it, others wait to redeem it, and there are not a few who have to bear the burden of having irredeemably lost it. Please, accompany them in discernment and with empathy”.
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