Pope Francis urged the faithful to reflect on the constant movement of Jesus and the importance of drawing closer to the “close, compassionate and tender” God that Jesus reveals to us.
“Our first spiritual work is to abandon the God we think we know and convert each day to the God that Jesus presents to us in the Gospel, who is the Father of love and compassion. The close, compassionate and tender Father,” he recalled this Sunday, February 4, from St. Peter’s Square.
At the beginning of his reflection, the Pope explained that the day’s Gospel shows Jesus on the move, preaching and carrying out compassionate actions. He highlighted the passage where Jesus heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, and subsequently goes out again to meet the sick and possessed, healing them. Finally, Jesus retires to pray and begins his journey through Galilee (cf. Mark 1:29-39).
The Pope highlighted the revelation of the “face of the Father” through Jesus, who goes to meet wounded humanity. He emphasized the possibility that within people there still exists the idea of a “distant and cold” God, but the Gospel shows that God is a Father “full of love who draws near, visits our homes, wants to save and liberate, cure of all evils of the body and spirit.”
“God is always close to us. God’s behavior can be summarized in three words: closeness, compassion and tenderness. God comes close to accompany us, tenderly, and to forgive us. Don’t forget this: closeness, compassion and tenderness. “This is the behavior of God,” he expressed.
Pope Francis then encouraged people to look at the path of Jesus as a spiritual guide, abandoning their previous conception of God and getting closer each day to the God presented by Jesus in the Gospel.
“When we discover the true face of the Father, our faith matures: we are no longer simply ‘sacristy’ or ‘parlor Christians’, but we feel called to be bearers of God’s hope and healing,” Pope Francis concluded.
At the end of the reflection, he invoked the intercession of the Virgin Mary, “Woman on the Way,” to help humanity “to announce and witness to the Lord who is close, compassionate and tender.”