Pope Francis’ Thoughts
Pope Francis on the Year of Mercy
(see cursillo message halfway down this page)
Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has declared a Holy Year of Mercy in order to highlight and celebrate mercy. He reminds us, “Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive.” (Pope Francis’ Misericordiae Vultus)
Pope Francis begins his Papal Bull announcing the Year of Mercy reminding us, Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith. Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth, reaching its culmination in Him. The Father, “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), after having revealed his name to Moses as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex 34:6), has never ceased to show, in various ways throughout history, his divine nature. In the “fullness of time” (Gal 4:4), when everything had been arranged according to his plan of salvation, he sent his only Son into the world, born of the Virgin Mary, to reveal His love for us in a definitive way. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Jesus of Nazareth, by His words, His actions, and His entire person reveals the mercy of God.
Mercy, Pope Francis explains, “is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us.”
He continues, “With our eyes fixed on Jesus and His merciful gaze, we experience the love of the Most Holy Trinity. The mission Jesus received from the Father was that of revealing the mystery of divine love in its fullness. “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8,16), John affirms for the first and only time in all of Holy Scripture. This love has now been made visible and tangible in Jesus’ entire life. His person is nothing but love, a love given gratuitously. The relationships He forms with the people who approach Him manifest something entirely unique and unrepeatable. The signs He works, especially in the face of sinners, the poor, the marginalized, the sick, and the suffering, are all meant to teach mercy. Everything in Him [Jesus] speaks of mercy. Nothing in Him is devoid of compassion.”
Read the entire Misericordiae Vultus The Bull Of Indiction Of The Extraordinary Jubilee Of Mercy by clicking here…
Pope Francis on Cursillo and the Works of Mercy
Every Catholic needs to learn the works of mercy, Francis tells Cursillo members.
Francis thanks Cursillo movement for ‘helping people encounter Jesus’ during hour-long audience
Being infallible when formally defining a doctrine does not mean a pope doesn’t make mistakes at other times, Francis has said, admitting he caused confusion for about 5,000 members of the Cursillos in Christianity movement.
Holding a European-wide gathering in Rome, Cursillo members were scheduled to meet Pope Francis on May 1, but instead he had them join him at the Vatican on the evening of April 30.
“I must apologise,” the Pope said. “You had to move many things around, creating difficulties, arranging transportation. Truly, I’m sorry.”
Interrupted frequently with applause, the Pope continued his apology, saying: “You know the Pope is infallible when he makes dogmatic definitions – something that rarely happens. But even the Pope has defects and infallibility has nothing to do with his personal defects.”
Pope Francis listed his defects as being “a bit disorganised and also undisciplined”.
Spending more than an hour with Cursillo members in the Vatican audience hall, the Pope thanked them “for all you do in the Church, which is so beautiful; helping people encounter Jesus, helping them understand that living in the grace of God is beautiful”.
Through friendship, three-day retreats and small group meetings, he said, the Cursillo movement helps people discover that friendship with Christ is the answer to their heart’s longing for love and for truth.
“One important thing about your movement: you have not engaged in proselytism,” in shouting matches or forcing fliers into people’s hands, but instead offer friendship, kindness and a Christian witness, he said. “This is a virtue. The Church does not grow through proselytism, but through witness as Pope Benedict told us.”
“When you realize that God has been so good, so tender, so merciful – this has to come out, this has to be shared with others,” the pope said.