At the General Audience, on Wednesday March 2, the Pope denounced “benefactors” who come with “offerings” but these are “the fruit of the blood of people who have been exploited, enslaved with work which was under-payed”. He spoke about the refugees who are arriving in Europe and don’t know where to go.
“The People of God don’t need their dirty money but hearts that are open to the mercy of God,” Pope Francis said at today’s General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, denouncing “benefactors” who come to the Church bearing “offerings” which are, however, “fruit of the blood of people who have been exploited, enslaved with work which was under-payed. I will tell these people to please take back their cheques.”
Pope Francis resumed his catecheses on “mercy” which he has chosen to deliver every Wednesday during the course of the Jubilee. He underlined that as a father, God “loves his children, he helps them, takes care of them, forgives them” and he “educates them and corrects them when they make mistakes, helping them to grow in goodness”. The Pope quoted the prophet Isaiah to remind faithful about when the Lord “speaks to his people with the bitterness of a disappointed father: he raises his children and they then rebel against him. Even animals are loyal to their masters and recognise the person who feeds them; but the people no longer recognise God, they refuse to understand. Although he is hurt, God lets love speak and appeals to the consciences of these degenerate children, that they may mend their ways and let themselves be loved once again. This is what God does. He approaches us in order to love us.”
“When a man is ill, he goes to the doctor, when he feels himself a sinner he goes to the lord, if he goes to the witchdoctor he will not be healed,” the Pope said: “We often choose to tread the wrong paths in search of a justification, justice, and peace when these gifts are bestowed upon us by the Lord if we choose the right path and turn to Him.”
The Pope emphasised that the father-son relationship which the prophets often refer to when speaking about God’s covenant with his people, “has been warped. The educational mission of parents aims to help them grow in freedom, to make them responsible and able to perform good deeds for themselves and for others. But because of sin, freedom leads to a demand for independence and pride leads to conflict and the illusion of self-sufficiency. God warns his people that they have taken the wrong path. With affection and sadness he calls them “my” people. God, Francis continued, never disowns us, we are His people. The most evil of men, the most evil of women, and the most evil of peoples are His children and this is God: he never disowns us, but always says: ‘come my child’. This is the love of our father, it is God’s mercy, having a father like this gives us hope, it gives us trust. This relationship must be one of trust, obedience and we need to be aware that everything is a gift that the Father gives us out of love for us. But vanity, folly and idolatry” get in the way. Hence the Pope is strict with God’s people, “to help them to understand the seriousness of their sin”.
This, the Pope continued “is the path of divine mercy: God does not treat us according to our sins. Punishment becomes the instrument for prompting reflection. This shows us that God forgives his people, he grants grace and does not destroy everything but always leaves the door open to hope. Salvation involves a resolve to listen and to allow oneself to be converted, but it remains a gratuitous gift. Thus, the merciful Lord points towards a path, which is not one of ritualistic sacrifices but of justice. Worship is criticised not because it is itself useless but because instead of being the expression of conversion, it aims to substitute it, becoming a search for justice and spurring the misleading belief that it is sacrifice that brings salvation, not divine mercy that forgives sin”. God, says the prophet Isaiah, “does not delight in the blood of bulls and lambs, especially if the offering is made with hands that have been dirtied by the blood of brothers”. Still today, the Pope said speaking off the cuff, “some ‘benefactors’ of the Church come with an offering for the Church and their offering is the fruit of the blood of people who have been exploited, enslaved with work which was under-payed. I will tell these people to please take back their cheques. The People of God don’t need their dirty money but hearts that are open to the mercy of God”
The Pope concluded by quoting Isaiah again: “Stop doing wrong,” the Pope urged, “learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow...” “Think,” the Pope added, addressing the faithful present, “of the many refugees who are arriving in Europe and don’t know where to go. Then, the Lord says, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool and the people will be able to sustain themselves with the earth’s resources and live in peace. This is the miracle of forgiveness, which God, as a Father wants to give his people. God’s mercy is offered to all and the prophet’s words also apply to all of us today, who are called to live as God’s children.”
