During his Mass at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis began his homily by meditating on the prophet Isaiah's image of a blooming desert.
He reminded those present that God is capable of changing everything, even a desert.
POPE FRANCIS
“However, am I aware that sin is not safeguarding gratuitousness? When I go to confession, what do I do? Do I say my sins like a parrot or do I say them because I feel I have risked the gift of gratuitousness to have something of my own?”
He explained sin is the desire to redeem ourselves. He also asked that the days leading up to Christmas be lived in meditation of the gratuitousness of salvation, life and everything God gives us freely.
SUMMARY OF POPE'S HOMILY:
(Source: Vatican News)
Evoking the prophecy of Isaiah, the Pope dwelt on the blooming of the desert, reminding Christians that God is capable of changing everything, gratuitously. God saves us for free, but we sin when we desire to save ourselves.
Speaking about Elizabeth, the pope said she reminds us of the story of Abraham and Sarah. “Sterility is a desert,” he explained, because “a sterile woman ends up there, without descendants.” Both Sarah and Elizabeth are “women of faith” and trust in the Lord. Both conceive and give birth. The pope pointed out that both conceive because God is capable of changing everything, even the laws of nature. He is capable of making way for His Word.
Pope Francis stressed the meaning of grace, urging all, in the words of St. Augustine, to open their hearts to God’s gratuitousness. He said a person can only be saved if he “believes in the gratuitousness of God’s gift.” Everything is grace. All are called to adore the Lord and thank Him for it.
The pope recalled Samson to remind Christians that we are all sinners and that sin is not safeguarding this gratuitousness of God. The pope said, we too can slip down like Samson and believe ourselves to be redeemers of ourselves. This, he stressed, is sin, which is the desire to redeem ourselves. “In these days before Christmas,” the pope concluded, “we praise the Lord for the gratuitousness of salvation, for the gratuitousness of life, for everything He gives us for free. Everything is grace.”
