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The Holy Father, Pope Francis, has released his Message for Lent for the year 2016, this Jubilee Year of Mercy. It can be found online here. The text of the message follows: MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR LENT 2016 “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” (Mt 9:13). The works of mercy on the road of the Jubilee Mary, the image of a Church which evangelizes because she is evangelized In the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, I asked that “the season of Lent in this Jubilee Year be lived more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God’s mercy” (Misericordiae Vultus, 17). By calling for an attentive listening to the word of God and encouraging the initiative “24 Hours for the Lord”, I sought to stress the primacy of prayerful listening to God’s word, especially his prophetic word. The mercy of God is a proclamation made to the world, a proclamation which each Christian is called to experience at first hand. For this reason, during the season of Lent I will send out Missionaries of Mercy as a concrete sign to everyone of God’s closeness and forgiveness. After receiving the Good News told to her by the Archangel Gabriel, Mary, in her Magnificat, prophetically sings of the mercy whereby God chose her. The Virgin of Nazareth, betrothed to Joseph, thus becomes the perfect icon of the Church which evangelizes, for she was, and continues to be, evangelized by the Holy Spirit, who made her virginal womb fruitful. In the prophetic tradition, mercy is strictly related – even on the etymological level – to the maternal womb (rahamim) and to a generous, faithful and compassionate goodness (hesed) shown within marriage and family relationships. God’s covenant with humanity: a history of mercy The mystery of divine mercy is revealed in the history of the covenant between God and his people Israel. God shows himself ever rich in mercy, ever ready to treat his people with deep tenderness and compassion, especially at those tragic moments when infidelity ruptures the bond of the covenant, which then needs to be ratified more firmly in justice and truth. Here is a true love story, in which God plays the role of the betrayed father and husband, while Israel plays the unfaithful child and bride. These domestic images – as in the case of Hosea (cf. Hos 1-2) – show to what extent God wishes to bind himself to his people. This love story culminates in the incarnation of God’s Son. In Christ, the Father pours forth his boundless mercy even to making him “mercy incarnate” (Misericordiae Vultus, 8). As a man, Jesus of Nazareth is a true son of Israel; he embodies that perfect hearing required of every Jew by the Shema, which today too is the heart of God’s covenant with Israel: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Dt6:4-5). As the Son of God, he is the Bridegroom who does everything to win over the love of his bride, to whom he is bound by an unconditional love which becomes visible in the eternal wedding feast. This is the very heart of the apostolic kerygma, in which divine mercy holds a central and fundamental place. It is “the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead” (Evangelii Gaudium, 36), that first proclamation which “we must hear again and again in different ways, the one which we must announce one way or another throughout the process of catechesis, at every level and moment” (ibid., 164). Mercy “expresses God’s way of reaching out to the sinner, offering him a new chance to look at himself, convert, and believe” (Misericordiae Vultus, 21), thus restoring his relationship with him. In Jesus crucified, God shows his desire to draw near to sinners, however far they may have strayed from him. In this way he hopes to soften the hardened heart of his Bride. The works of mercy God’s mercy transforms human hearts; it enables us, through the experience of a faithful love, to become merciful in turn. In an ever new miracle, divine mercy shines forth in our lives, inspiring each of us to love our neighbour and to devote ourselves to what the Church’s tradition calls the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. These works remind us that faith finds expression in concrete everyday actions meant to help our neighbours in body and spirit: by feeding, visiting, comforting and instructing them. On such things will we be judged. For this reason, I expressed my hope that “the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy; this will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty, and to enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God’s mercy” (ibid., 15). For in the poor, the flesh of Christ “becomes visible in the flesh of the tortured, the crushed, the scourged, the malnourished, and the exiled… to be acknowledged, touched, and cared for by us” (ibid.). It is the unprecedented and scandalous mystery of the extension in time of the suffering of the Innocent Lamb, the burning bush of gratuitous love. Before this love, we can, like Moses, take off our sandals (cf. Ex 3:5), especially when the poor are our brothers or sisters in Christ who are suffering for their faith. In the light of this love, which is strong as death (cf. Song 8:6), the real poor are revealed as those who refuse to see themselves as such. They consider themselves rich, but they are actually the poorest of the poor. This is because they are slaves to sin, which leads them to use wealth and power not for the service of God and others, but to stifle within their hearts the profound sense that they too are only poor beggars. The greater their power and wealth, the more this blindness and deception can grow. It can even reach the point of being blind to Lazarus begging at their doorstep (cf. Lk 16:20-21). Lazarus, the poor man, is a figure of Christ, who through the poor pleads for our conversion. As such, he represents the possibility of conversion which God offers us and which we may well fail to see. Such blindness is often accompanied by the proud illusion of our own omnipotence, which reflects in a sinister way the diabolical “you will be like God” (Gen 3:5) which is the root of all sin. This illusion can likewise take social and political forms, as shown by the totalitarian systems of the twentieth century, and, in our own day, by the ideologies of monopolizing thought and technoscience, which would make God irrelevant and reduce man to raw material to be exploited. This illusion can also be seen in the sinful structures linked to a model of false development based on the idolatry of money, which leads to lack of concern for the fate of the poor on the part of wealthier individuals and societies; they close their doors, refusing even to see the poor. For all of us, then, the season of Lent in this Jubilee Year is a favourable time to overcome our existential alienation by listening to God’s word and by practising the works of mercy. In the corporal works of mercy we touch the flesh of Christ in our brothers and sisters who need to be fed, clothed, sheltered, visited; in the spiritual works of mercy – counsel, instruction, forgiveness, admonishment and prayer – we touch more directly our own sinfulness. The corporal and spiritual works of mercy must never be separated. By touching the flesh of the crucified Jesus in the suffering, sinners can receive the gift of realizing that they too are poor and in need. By taking this path, the “proud”, the “powerful” and the “wealthy” spoken of in the Magnificat can also be embraced and undeservedly loved by the crucified Lord who died and rose for them. This love alone is the answer to that yearning for infinite happiness and love that we think we can satisfy with the idols of knowledge, power and riches. Yet the danger always remains that by a constant refusal to open the doors of their hearts to Christ who knocks on them in the poor, the proud, rich and powerful will end up condemning themselves and plunging into the eternal abyss of solitude which is Hell. The pointed words of Abraham apply to them and to all of us: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (Lk 16:29). Such attentive listening will best prepare us to celebrate the final victory over sin and death of the Bridegroom, now risen, who desires to purify his Betrothed in expectation of his coming. Let us not waste this season of Lent, so favourable a time for conversion! We ask this through the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary, who, encountering the greatness of God’s mercy freely bestowed upon her, was the first to acknowledge her lowliness (cf. Lk 1:48) and to call herself the Lord’s humble servant (cf. Lk 1:38). From the Vatican, 4 October 2015 Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi FRANCIS
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PORUKA SVETOG OCA FRANJE ZA KORIZMU, 2016. Draga braćo i sestre, Marija - slika Crkve koja evangelizira zato što je evangelizirana U buli najave Jubileja uputio sam poziv da se "korizmu u ovoj jubilejskoj godini živi intenzivnije kao povlašteno vrijeme u kojem će se slaviti i iskusiti Božje milosrđe" (Misericordiae vultus. Lice milosrđa, 17). S pozivom na slušanje Božje riječi i na sudjelovanje u inicijativi "24 sata za Gospodina" htio sam istaknuti da na prvome mjestu treba biti pobožno slušanje Božje riječi, napose one izrečene po prorocima. Božje milosrđe je naime navještaj svijetu: ali taj je navještaj svaki kršćanin pozvan osobno iskusiti. To je razlog zbog kojeg ću u korizmi slati misionare milosrđa da budu za sve konkretni znak Božje blizine i opraštanja. Pošto je prihvatila Radosnu vijest koju joj je uputio arkanđeo Gabriel, Marija je, u Magnificat, proročki opjevala Božje milosrđe kojom ju je Bog unaprijed izabrao. Nazaretska Djevica, Josipova zaručnica, postaje tako savršena slika Crkve koja evangelizira zato jer je Duh Sveti, koji je njezino djevičansko krilo učinio plodnim, nju samu evangelizirao i neprestano je evangelizira. U proročkoj tradiciji, milosrđe je naime usko povezano, već na etimološkoj razini, upravo s majčinskom utrobom (rahamin) kao i s velikodušnom, vjernom i suosjećajnom dobrotom (hesed), koja se očituje u bračnim i rodbinskim odnosima. Božji savez s ljudima: povijest milosrđa Otajstvo Božjeg milosrđa otkriva se tijekom povijesti saveza između Boga i njegova naroda Izraela. Bog se, naime, uvijek pokazuje bogat milosrđem, spreman u svakoj prilici izliti na svoj narod nježnost i suosjećanje koji izviru "iz njedara", osobito u najdramatičnijim trenucima kad narod svojom nevjerom prekida vezu saveza i savez treba čvršće utvrditi u pravdi i istini. Posrijedi je prava i istinska drama ljubavi, u kojoj Bog igra ulogu oca i iznevjerenog zaručnika, dok Izrael igra ulogu nevjernog sina/kćeri i zaručnice. Upravo obiteljske slike – kao u Hošeinu slučaju (usp. Hoš 1-2) – pokazuju do kojeg se stupnja Bog želi vezati uz svoj narod. Ta drama ljubavi postiže svoj vrhunac u utjelovljenom Sinu. U njemu Bog izlijeva svoje beskrajno milosrđe u tolikoj mjeri da ono postaje "utjelovljeno milosrđe" (Misericordiae vultus. Lice milosrđa, 8). Kao čovjek, Isus iz Nazareta je naime po svemu dijete Izraela i to dotle da utjelovljuje onaj savršeni posluh Bogu koji se traži od svakog pripadnika izraelskog naroda u Shema, koji je i danas srž Božjeg saveza s Izraelom: "Čuj, Izraele! Gospodin je Bog naš, Gospodin je jedan! Zato ljubi Gospodina, Boga svoga, svim srcem svojim, svom dušom svojom i svom snagom svojom!" (Pnz 6, 4-5). Božji Sin je Zaručnik koji čini sve ne bi li pridobio ljubav svoje Zaručnice, uz koju ga veže bezuvjetna ljubav koja postaje vidljivom u svadbi s njom u vječnosti. To je živo srce apostolske kerygme, u kojoj Božje milosrđe ima središnje i temeljno mjesto. Ona je "ljepota Božje spasiteljske ljubavi očitovane u Isusu Kristu umrlom i uskrslom" (apost. pob. Evangelii gaudium. Radost evanđelja, 36), onaj prvi navještaj koji "moramo uvijek iznova slušati na razne načine i koji se mora uvijek iznova naviještati u katehezi" (isto, 164). Milosrđe dakle "izražava način na koji Bog postupa s grešnikom, nudeći mu novu priliku da prizna svoj grijeh, za njega se pokaje, obrati se i vjeruje" (Misericordiae vultus, 21), ponovno uspostavljajući, upravo na taj način, odnos s njim. U Isusu raspetom Bog ide tako daleko da želi doći do grešnika bez obzira koliko se ovaj od njega udaljio, upravo tamo gdje se izgubio i udaljio od njega. I to čini u nadi da će moći tako konačno raznježiti otvrdnulo srce svoje Zaručnice. Djela milosrđa Božje milosrđe preobražava čovjekovo srce i daje mu iskusiti vjernu ljubav i tako ga osposobljava da i on sam bude milosrdan. Uvijek je novo čudo da se Božje milosrđe može širiti u životu svakog od nas, potičući nas na ljubav prema bližnjemu i oživljavajući ono što tradicija Crkve naziva tjelesnim i duhovnim djelima milosrđa. Ona nas podsjećaju da se naša vjera izražava u konkretnim i svakodnevnima djelima kojima je cilj pomoći našem bližnjemu u tijelu i u duhu: hraniti ga, odjenuti, utješiti, odgojiti. Zato sam izrazio želju "da kršćanski narod, tijekom Jubileja, razmišlja o tjelesnim i duhovnim djelima milosrđa. Na taj će se način probuditi naša svijest, koja je previše često uspavana pred dramom siromaštva. Ulazimo također sve više u srž evanđelja, gdje Bog siromašnima na poseban način iskazuje svoju milosrdnost" (isto, 15). U siromahu, naime, Kristovo tijelo "ponovno postaje vidljivo u tijelu mučenih, ranjenih, bičevanih, pothranjenih, prognanih… kako bismo ga prepoznali, dotakli i za nj se brižno skrbili" (isto). Nečuven je i skandalozan misterij činjenica da se u povijesti nastavlja patnja Nevinog Jaganjca, tog gorućeg grma nezaslužene ljubavi pred kojim možemo poput Mojsija samo izuti obuću (usp. Izl 3, 5); to više kad je siromah brat ili sestra u Kristu koji trpe zbog svoje vjere. Pred tom ljubavlju snažnom poput smrti (usp. Pj 8, 6), najbjednijim se siromahom pokazuje onaj koji ne prihvaća da ga se takvim promatra. Vjeruje da je bogat, ali je zapravo najsiromašniji od svih siromaha. On je to zato što je rob grijeha, koji ga tjera da koristi bogatstvo i moć ne zato da služi Bogu i drugima, već zato da zatomi u sebi duboku svijest da i on sam nije ništa drugo već siromašni prosjak. I što su veća moć i bogatstvo kojim raspolaže, to većom može postati ta lažna zaslijepljenost. On ide čak tako daleko da ne želi ni vidjeti siromašnog Lazara koji prosi pred vratima njegove kuće (usp. Lk 16, 20-21), koji je slika Krista koji u siromašnima prosi naše obraćenje. Lazar je mogućnost obraćenja koju nam Bog pruža a koju možda ne vidimo. A ta zaslijepljenost ide ruku pod ruku s oholim delirijem svemoći, u kojem zlokobno odzvanja onaj đavolski "bit ćete kao bogovi" (Post 3, 5) koji je korijen svakoga grijeha. Taj delirij može poprimiti također društvene i političke oblike, kao što su to pokazali totalitarizmi 20. stoljeća, i kao što to pokazuju ideologije jednoumlja i tehnoznanosti, koji teže tome da učine Boga nevažnim a čovjeka svedu na mnoštvo koje treba instrumentalizirati. Mogu to danas pokazati također strukture grijeha vezane uz model lažnog razvoja utemeljenog na idolatriji novca, koja dobrostojeće pojedince i najbogatija društva čini ravnodušnima prema sudbini siromašnih, te im zatvaraju svoja vrata i ne žele ih čak ni vidjeti. Korizma u ovoj jubilejskoj godini je, dakle, za sve pogodno vrijeme da mogu konačno izaći iz svoje egzistencijalne otuđenosti zahvaljujući slušanju Božje riječi i djelima milosrđa. Ako tjelesnim djelima milosrđa dotičemo Kristovo tijelo u braći i sestrama potrebitim hrane, odjeće, stana, pohoda, duhovna djela – savjetovati, poučavati, opraštati, opominjati, moliti – izravnije se dotiču naše grešnosti. Zato se tjelesna i duhovna djela nikada ne smije razdvajati. Naime, upravo dotičući u bijedniku tijelo raspetog Isusa grešnik može primiti na dar svijest da je on sâm siromašni prosjak. Na taj način i "oholi", "moćni" i "bogati" o kojima se govori u Magnificat imaju priliku osjetiti da su nezasluženo ljubljeni od Raspetoga, koji je također za njih umro i uskrsnuo. Jedino je u toj ljubavi odgovor na onu žeđ za neprolaznom srećom i ljubavlju koju se čovjek zavarava da može utažiti idolima znanja, moći i posjedovanja. Ali uvijek ostaje opasnost da, zbog sve veće zatvorenosti Kristu, koji u siromahu nastavlja kucati na vrata njihova srca, oholi, bogati i moćni na kraju sami sebe osude na pad u onaj vječni bezdan samoće koji je pakao. Eto zašto iznova odzvanja za njih, kao i za sve nas, ozbiljna Abrahamova opomena: "Imaju Mojsija i Proroke! Njih neka poslušaju!" (Lk 16, 29). Taj će nas djelatni posluh pripraviti na najbolji način za proslavu konačne pobjede nad grijehom i smrću sada već uskrslog Zaručnika, koji želi očistiti svoju Zaručnicu, u iščekivanju njegova dolaska. Nemojmo izgubiti ovo vrijeme korizme pogodno za obraćenje! Molimo za to obraćenje po majčinskom zagovoru Djevice Marije, koja je prva, pred veličinom Božjeg milosrđa koje joj je bilo besplatno darovano, prepoznala vlastitu malenost (usp. Lk 1, 48), priznavši se poniznom službenicom Gospodnjom (usp. © Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana