In his Thursday morning Mass, Pope Francis talked abut how dialogue fits into being obedient to God. In light of the day's readings, the Pope talked how pharisses couldn't recognize God's salvation because their hearts were too stubborn.
POPE FRANCIS
'And the lack of dialogue, this closure of the heart, brought them to the point of not obeying God. This is the drama faced by these teachers of Israel, of these theologians of God's people: They didnâ??t know how to listen, they didnâ??t know how to dialogue. Dialogue takes place with God and with the brethren.â?
He also highlighted that part of being obedient to God is being willing to change route, when called to do so by the Lord.
SUMMARY OF POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
The liturgy of the day speaks to us about obedience, the Pope said. 'Obedience often brings us along a path that is not the one I think should be, but along another path.â? To obey is 'to have the courage to change paths when the Lord asks this of us.â? 'The one who obeys has life eternal,â? while for 'the one who does not obey, the wrath of God remains upon him.â? So, in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the priests and leaders order the disciples of Jesus to stop preaching the Gospel to the people: they became infuriated, they are 'full of jealousy,â? because miracles took place in the presence of the disciples, the people followed them, 'and the number of believers grew.â?
They put the disciples in jail, but in the night, the Angel of the Lord freed them and they returned to proclaiming the Gospel. When he was arrested and questioned again, Peter responded to the threats of the high priest: 'We must obey God rather than men.â? The priests did not understand:
But they were teachers, they had studied the history of the people, they had studied the prophecies, they had studied the law, they knew all about the theology of the people of Israel, the revelation of God, they knew everything, they were teachers, and they were incapable of recognizing the salvation of God.
But why this hardness of hard? Because it is not a hardness of the head, it is not simple stubbornness. Here it is hardnessâ?¦ And one can ask: What is the path of this stubbornness, this total stubbornness, of head and of heart?
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