POPE FRANCIS GENERAL AUDIENCE: 'God hears the cry and he covenant' (FULL TEXT: English)

Weekly General Audience: January 27, 2016

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In Sacred Scripture, God's mercy is present throughout the history of the people of Israel.

With his mercy, the Lord accompanies the journey of the Patriarchs, gives their children despite the condition of infertility, leads them in the paths of grace and reconciliation, as the story of Joseph and his brothers (cf. Jan. 37-50) . And I think of the many brothers who have strayed into a family and do not talk. But this Year of Mercy is a good opportunity to meet, hug and forgive and forget the bad things. But, as we know, in Egypt's life for the people it is hard. And it is precisely when the Israelites are about to succumb, that the Lord intervenes and brings about salvation.

We read in the Book of Exodus: "After a long time the king of Egypt died. The children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry went up from slavery to God. God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God looked upon the children of Israel, God took care of "(2.23 to 25). Mercy can not remain indifferent to the suffering of the oppressed, to the cry of those who are subjected to violence, enslaved, condemned to death. It 'a painful reality that affects every age, including our own, and who often feel powerless, tempted to harden the heart and think about something else. But God "is not indifferent" ( Message for the World Day of Peace 2016 , 1), does not distract his gaze from human pain. The mercy of God responds and takes care of the poor, of those who cry out their despair. God listens and intervenes to save, arousing men able to hear the groan of suffering and to work in favor of the oppressed.

Thus it begins the story of Moses as mediator of liberation for the people. He faces the Pharaoh to convince him to let Israel go; and then guide the people through the Red Sea and the desert to freedom. Moses, that God's mercy he saved from newborn death in the waters of the Nile, he brokers that same mercy, allowing people the freedom to be born out of the water of the Red Sea. And we in this Year of Mercy we can make this work to be mediators of mercy with works of mercy to bring, to soothe, to make units. So many good things you can do.

The mercy of God always acts to save. It is quite the opposite of the work of those who always act to kill, for example those that make war. The Lord, through His servant Moses to lead them in the wilderness like a son, taught faith and makes a covenant with him, creating a strong bond of love, like that of his father with his son and groom with the bride.

A time comes divine mercy. God offers a special loving relationship, exclusive, privileged. When giving instructions to Moses regarding the alliance, he says: "If you will listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be to me a particular property of all the peoples; My fact is all the earth! You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation "( Ex 19.5 to 6).

Of course, God already owns all the land because it was created; but the people become for him a different ownership, special: his personal "reserves of gold and silver" like the one that King David claimed to have donated for the construction of the Temple.

Well, those we become for God by upholding his alliance and leaving us to save him. The mercy of the Lord makes man precious, as a personal wealth that belongs to him, that he guards and in which it welcomed.

These are the wonders of divine mercy, which reaches its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus, in that "new and eternal covenant" consumed in his blood, that with forgiveness destroys our sin and makes us definitely children of God (cf. 1 Jn 3 , 1), precious jewels in the hands of the good and merciful Father. And if we are children of God and we can have this legacy - that of goodness and mercy - in comparison with others, we ask the Lord that in this Year of Mercy we also do things in mercy; we open our hearts to reach everyone with the works of mercy, the legacy of mercy that God the Father had with us.

Greetings:

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims present at today's Audience, especially those from the United States of America. With fervent wishes that this Jubilee of Mercy is for you and your families a time of grace and spiritual renewal, I invoke upon you all the joy and peace of the Lord Jesus. God bless you!

NOTICE

The Pontifical Council Cor Unum , the Jubilee of Mercy, has promoted a day of retreat for individuals and groups engaged in the service of charity. The symposium, to be held in every diocese during Lent will be an opportunity to reflect on the call to be merciful as the Father. I invite you to accept this proposal, using the signs and materials prepared by Cor Unum .

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I extend a cordial welcome to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. I greet especially the Daughters of St. Paul, the Priestly Marian League, the trainers of the International Don Bosco and the Work Family of Nazareth in the sixtieth foundation. I greet the artists and the circus and I thank them for their welcome performance; you are proponents of beauty, you do the beauty and beauty is good for the soul. The beauty brings us closer to God, but behind this show of beauty, how many hours of training we are! Go ahead, continue, thanks. I greet the members dell'ANTAS and students and family members of the Santa Maria School of Formia, who remember the 50th anniversary of the Sisters sisters. The Extraordinary Jubilee, with the passage through the Holy Door, invite us to come out of egoism - we all have something of selfishness - We have to get out of this. We have to go out and promote selfishness in all your works of mercy towards the brothers.

A special thought to the young, the sick and newlyweds. Tomorrow is the liturgical memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, patron of Catholic schools. His example pushes you, dear young people, to see the merciful Jesus the only teacher of life; her intercession obtain for you, dear sick people, the serenity and peace in the mystery of the cross; and his doctrine be an encouragement for you, dear newlyweds, to trust in the wisdom of the heart to fulfill your mission.