During his meeting with seminarians,
religious, and priests, Pope Francis was set to speak about unity and
joy. But without any warning, he made a decision that he's become known
for: He decided to improvise.
POPE FRANCIS
'I am
going to give the Homily to Cardinal Jamie to bring to you and publish
it and afterward you can meditate on it. And now let's chat a bit about
what these two prophets said.â?
The two prophets were Cardinal
Jaime Ortega and a woman religious. They spoke about poverty and mercy, two issues that deeply moved the Pope.
POPE FRANCIS
'Cardinal
Jaime said an uncomfortable word, very uncomfortable, extremely
uncomfortable. It goes against the cultural structure of the world. He
said poverty.â?
Poverty, he explained, is a word that the world
fears and tries to avoid at all costs. And when that fear gets into the
heart of a Christian...
POPE FRANCIS
'You are lost.
You're not like Jesus...We always try to avoid poverty. It can be for
reasonable things, but I am talking about avoiding it in the heart.â?
Pope
Francis was touched by the testimony of a sister who spoke about
working in a center for the physically and mentally disabled.
POPE FRANCIS
'You
cried because you were young. You thought that in a school you could do
more things, you could organize future for youth. And they sent you
there, to the home of mercy...Taking care of those who the world threw
out, who the world despises, who the world prefers not exist.â?
The
Pope thanked her and all the other religious for their work with people
the world considered 'throwaway material.â? He said they are just as
precious as anyone in God's eyes.
POPE FRANCIS
'But
that is nice to God. For example, the smile of a spastic who does not
know how to smile correctly. Or when they want to kiss you but they spit
on your face. That is the tenderness of God.â?
Speaking of mercy,
the Pope also shared some advice for confessors. He said that when
hearing confessions, they cannot forget that they are sinners too. And
they must never grow tired of forgiveness.
After this improvised address, the Pope went to the last major event of the day: a meeting with young people.
JRB
CTV
V
-BN
Up:MG
