Pope Francis pointed out in his catechism at the public audience on Wednesday that we often mistake God for thinking that he is always ready to find us wrong. We should read the Word of God as a telegram from God to us.
(Vatican News Network) Pope Francis presided over the Wednesday public audience on the morning of December 21, and continued to use spiritual discernment as the theme of the day’s catechism. The pope said that we need to make daily discernments in choosing what to eat, what to see, how to work and how to associate with people. If we don’t choose consciously, eventually “life chooses for us and takes us where we don’t want to go”.
However, discernment is not something we can do on our own. We need help. The first is “comparison with the Word of God and the teaching of the Church”, which “help us to see what is going on in us”, from which we learn to recognize the voice of God and distinguish it from other noises. The voice of God, said the Pope, is soft and quiet. “Only in peace can we access the depths of our hearts and recognize the true desires that the Lord has placed in our hearts”.
The Pope acknowledged that it is often not easy to enter into inner peace because we are so busy that we are here and there all day long. To get inside, stop for two minutes and see what’s going on in your mind. In moments of calm, the Pope said, we can hear the voice of God and better understand our attitudes and our choices.
“For the believer, the Word of God is not just a work to be recited, it is a living presence, an act of the Holy Spirit who soothes, teaches, and gives light, strength, healing and life It is fun. Read the Bible, read a passage, and a paragraph or two from the Bible enters your mind immediately like a short telegram. The Word of God is a bit of a real early arrival of heaven, is it not an exaggeration? “
We can often mistake God for a harsh, fiery judge ready to find fault with us, the Pope said. Jesus revealed to us a God full of mercy and tenderness, who would sacrifice himself whenever he could to help us, just like the father in the parable of the prodigal son. (See: Luke 11:13)
The Pope related an instance many years ago when he was in Argentina. Once, he listened to the confession for the young people who came to the pilgrimage at the Shrine of Our Lady of Luhan. A young man confided to him that he had followed his mother’s advice in making the pilgrimage. His mother told him that he would understand many things when he went to Our Lady. The young man confessed that during the pilgrimage, the word of God really touched his heart and made him understand what to do.
This example, the Pope explained, shows the effect of God’s word in every human being, “because God does not want to destroy us, he wants us to be stronger and better every day”. Looking at the crucifix, we will feel “a new kind of peace” and learn to “not fear God”. “The word of God always makes you look from the other side: here is the cross, which is not a good thing, but there is another thing, there is hope, there is a resurrection. The word of God opens all doors for you, because he is the door, is the Lord.”
The relationship with God is a relationship that grows day by day, the Pope said: “Relationship with God can change the heart; it is a great gift of the Holy Spirit, piety, which enables us to recognize God as A fatherly aspect. We have a tender father, a warm father, a loving father who always loves us: once we have this experience, the heart melts and the doubts, fears, feelings of inadequacy are gone existence. Nothing can stand in the way of this love of encountering God.”
Another aid to spiritual discernment is “the grace of the Holy Spirit who is present in us. The Holy Spirit teaches us, helps us to live out the Word of God we read, reminds us of newness in it, opens for us doors that seem to be closed. , and point us to the paths of life that seem to be nothing but darkness and confusion”.
The Pope concluded by emphasizing that the Holy Spirit is always with us and by our side. We need to cultivate conversation with Him, to forge ahead “with courage and joy.”
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