CV NEWS FEED // While continuing to recover from illness, Pope Francis offered a heartfelt catechesis for his April 16 audience, drawing from the parable of the prodigal son to remind the faithful of God’s unwavering love.
“No matter how or where we’ve gotten lost, God always comes looking for us!” Pope Francis wrote in the message.
As the Pope recovers after being released by Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, the Holy See Press Office continues to publish his messages as they did during his hospitalization, Vatican News reported.
In this week’s audience, the Pope conveyed that, like the prodigal son, no matter how far people stray, God the Father welcomes his children home with overflowing mercy.
Pope Francis acknowledged that when men make mistakes, they often have the disordered belief that “we can only be in a relationship as servants, as if we have to atone for some guilt or as if true love doesn’t exist.”
He then explained God’s true love for his children and that only those who truly love others can free them from the false view of love.
Pope Francis also reflected on the relationship the older son had with his father. He noted the anger that the older son expressed at his father when the younger son returned home, that when people unwillingly remain in a relationship, “[they] begin to harbor anger, which sooner or later explodes.”
Even experiencing the anger the older son conveyed to his father, the father still goes out to meet with his son and show his love for him. The Pope told the Church that the Lord wants to show them His love.
“This,” he wrote, “is precisely the reason for our hope: we can have hope because we know the Father is waiting for us, sees us from afar, and always leaves the door open.”
The pope concluded by inviting the faithful to “ask God the Father for the grace to find our way home, too.”
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