At the Angelus, the Pope asked for Monsignor Álvarez, sentenced to 26 years in prison by the Ortega regime after refusing exile. He invited them to continue praying and showing solidarity with the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. “God loves us like a lover, let’s not reduce faith to external gestures”.
Vatican City () – “God does not reason with calculations and tables. He loves us like a lover,” Pope Francis said today at the Angelus, addressing the faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square. He also referred to the images of devastation that continue to arrive from Turkey and Syria, destroyed a week ago by the earthquake, and recommended persevering in prayer and solidarity for the victims.Finally, he appealed against political repression in Nicaragua, where Bishop Rolando Álvarez was sentenced to 26 years in prison by the Daniel Ortega regime.
Regarding the words that the liturgy proposes today, when it says that Jesus did not come “to abolish the law or the prophets, but to give them full fulfillment” (Mt 5,17), the pontiff proposed to ask himself about the meaning of that ” compliance”. And he explained it from the gesture that Jesus himself suggests: reconcile with his brother before presenting the offering on the altar. “When an offering was made to God, it corresponded to the gratuity of his gifts; It was a very important rite -he commented- so much so that it was forbidden to interrupt it, except for serious reasons. But Jesus affirms that we must interrupt it if a brother has something against us, that we must first go to reconcile with him, and only then can the rite be completed”. The message is clear: “Religious norms are useful, they are good, but they are only the beginning: to truly fulfill them, it is necessary to go beyond the letter and live their meaning.The commandments that God has given us should not be locked in a safe, suffocated by formal observance, because otherwise we remain in a external and distant religiosity, servants of a ‘patron god’ rather than children of God the Father”.
“This problem did not exist only in the time of Jesus –Francisco continued-, it also exists today. Sometimes, for example, one hears people say: ‘Father, I haven’t killed, I haven’t stolen, I haven’t hurt anyone…’, as if to say: ‘I did everything right’. This is the formal observance, which is satisfied with the minimum, while Jesus invites us to the maximum possible “. He then invited to ask:” How do I live the faith? Is it a question of calculations, of formalities or is it a love affair with God? Am I satisfied with not doing evil, with keeping ‘the facade’, or do I try to grow in love for God and others? And from time to time I review the great mandate of Jesus? I wonder if I love my neighbor as He loves me? Because perhaps we are inflexible when judging others and we forget to be merciful, as God is with us.”
After praying the Angelus, the pontiff invited to continue to be close to the populations affected by the earthquake in Syria and Turkey: “Let us pray and think about what we can do for them,” he added. And let us not forget Ukraine either, so that the Lord opens paths of peace and gives those responsible the courage to follow them”.
Finally, the Pope referred to the dramatic situation in Nicaragua, where the Bishop of Matagalpa, Msgr. Rolando Álvarez, who was detained for six months, refused to accept exile and was sentenced to 26 years in prison by the regime of Daniel Ortega. “The news that comes from Nicaragua has saddened me a lot – said Francisco – and I cannot help but remember with concern the bishop that I love so much and also the people who were deported to the United States. I pray for them and for all those who suffer in that beloved country, and I ask you to pray too. Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to open the hearts of political leaders and all citizens to the sincere search for peace that is born of truth, justice, freedom and love, and that it be achieved through the patient exercise of dialogue”.
