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Pope Francis on God's Love: It silences our sins

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'...the Lord wants me to open the door of my heart.'

Pope Francis delivered a homily on God's love and Grace this Friday morning during a Mass celebrated in the Santa Marta residence.

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Highlights

By Kenya Sinclair (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
1/8/2016 (8 years ago)

Published in Living Faith

Keywords: Pope Francis, God, love, Lord, sin

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Vatican Radio reported Pope Francis' homily on God's love on Friday, in which the pontiff described how God's love has the power to silence our sins.

Pope Francis read from the letter of John the Apostle and described the different ways in which God commands us to love.

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"This word 'love' is a word that is used so many times and when we use it we don't know exactly what it meas," the pontiff said. "What is love? Sometimes we can think of the love in the soap operas but that doesn't appear to be love. Or else love can seem like having a crush on a person but then it fades away.

"Where does true love come from? Whoever loves has been created by God because God is love. Don't say: 'Every love is God,' No [sic], God is love."

The pontiff then spoke of the Apostle John and how God loves us first. Examples of God's love included the multiplication of loaves of bread by Jesus and in the parable of the prodigal son.

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"When we have something on our mind and we want to ask God to forgive us, it's He who is waiting for us - to forgive us. This Jubilee Year of Mercy, to some extent, is also this: that we may know that our Lord is waiting for us, each of us.

"Why? To embrace us. Nothing more. To say to us: son, daughter, I love you. I let my Son be crucified for you: this is the price of my love, this is the gift of my love."

Pope Francis continued to speak of the importance of our part in meeting God half-way and said, "the Lord is waiting for me, the Lord wants me to open the door of my heart," adding we must believe so God can love us as who we are, not who we are told to be.

"We must go to the Lord and say: 'You know Lord how much I love you.'" the pontiff stated. "Or, if you don't feel able to say it in that way: 'You know Lord that I would like to love you but I am such a bad sinner.' And He will do the same as he did with the prodigal son who squandered all his money on vices: he won't let you finish your speech and with an embrace will silence you. The embrace of God's love."