Vatican City, 27 January 2016 (VIS)
-God's mercy has always been present throughout the history of the
People of Israel, accompanying the way of Patriarchs, endowing them
with offspring despite their sterility as in the case of Abraham and
Sarah, and leading them on paths of grace and reconciliation, as is
shown by the story of Joseph and his brothers. When life became
difficult due to slavery in Egypt, God was not indifferent to their
suffering. He saved them from the Pharaoh through Moses, he took them
out of Egypt and led them through the Red Sea and the desert to the
promised land and to freedom. This was the theme of the Holy Father's
catechesis during this Wednesday's general audience in St. Peter's
Square, entitled "God heard their groaning and He remembered His
covenant", drawn from the Book of Exodus.
"Mercy is not indifferent to the
pain of the oppressed, to the cry of those who suffer violence and
slavery or are condemned to death. Suffering is a sad reality that
afflicts every age, including our own, and often makes us feel
helpless, tempting us to harden our hearts and think of other things.
God, however, is not indifferent; He never turns away from human
suffering. The God of mercy … intervenes to save, inspiring men
capable of hearing the cry of suffering and of working in favour of
the oppressed".
Moses, one of God's chosen ones, saved
from the waters of the Nile by divine mercy, becomes a mediator for
the liberation of his people. "And we too, in this Year of
Mercy, can be mediators … with the works of mercy, being close to
our neighbours, to relieve them. They are many good things we can
do", added the Pope. "God's mercy always acts to save us.
The Lord, through his servant Moses, leads Israel in the desert like
a child, educating his people in faith and creating a strong bond of
love, like that between a father and son, or a bride and groom. …
God possesses all the earth because He has created it, but the people
become for Him a different type of possession: His personal reserve
of gold and silver, like the treasure King David says he has donated
for the construction of the Temple. This is what we become for God by
welcoming his covenant and letting ourselves be saved by Him. The
Lord's mercy makes man precious, like a personal wealth that belongs
to Him, that He conserves and is pleased with".
"These are the wonders of divine
mercy, that finds fulfilment in the Lord Jesus, in that 'new and
eternal alliance' consummated with His blood, that with forgiveness
destroys our sin and definitively makes us children of God, precious
jewels in the hands of the good and merciful Father. And if we are
sons of God, we have the possibility of inheriting this goodness and
mercy. Let us ask the Lord, in this Year of Mercy … to open our
heart to reach everyone with the works of mercy, the legacy of the
mercy that God the Father has shown to us", concluded the bishop
of Rome.