Angelus of the Pope: “salvation is not automatic, it requires conversion”

Mireia Bonilla – Vatican City

This Sunday, the Holy Father reflected on the current passage of the Gospel according to the evangelist Marcos: “The time has come and the Kingdom of God is near; convert and believe in the gospel. “Jesus did not use half-words” said the Pope, in fact “it is a message which invites us to reflect on two essential themes: the weather and the conversion” Pope Francis assured.

The weather

On the one hand – says Francis – in this text by the evangelist Mark, “we must understand the weather as the duration of the history of salvation accomplished by God; Therefore, the time “accomplished” is the time when this saving action reaches its culmination, at its full accomplishment: it is the historic moment when God sent the Son into the world and his Kingdom never came “near”. .

Conversion

However, “salvation is not automatic”, underlines the Pope. “Salvation is a gift of love, and as such, offered to human freedom, each time we speak of love, we speak of freedom, love without freedom is not love , it can be interest, fear, so many things, but love is always free “and to be free – he emphasizes -” requires a free response: it requires conversion“. For Francis, this “conversion” means “to change your mind and change your life: no longer follow the models of the world, but rather that of God, who is Jesus”. El Pontífice explica demás que “es un cambio decisivo de visión y de actitud”, pues el pecado y en concreto “el de la mundanalidad” trajo al mundo una mentalidad “que tiende a la afirmación de uno mismo contra los demás, e incluso contra God”.

“It’s curious” – says the Pope – and asks: “What is your identity?”, Because according to the Pope, “we often feel that by expressing our identity with a counter-term, it is difficult to express our identity with a positive term, against others, against others and against God and for this reason the mentality of the world can provoke violence and deception. ”And“ we see what happens with deception and violence ”says the Pope : “Desire for power, gift of service, wars, exploitation against people, such is the mentality of deception which certainly has its origin in the father of deception, in the great liar, the devil, he is the father of lies” .

Jesus’ message invites us to be welcoming and humble

“Jesus’ message opposes all of this, inviting us to recognize ourselves in the need of God and of his grace; maintain a balanced attitude towards earthly goods; be welcoming and humble towards everyone; to know and realize oneself by meeting and serving others ”, declared the Pope. In fact, he explains that for each of us, the time during which we can welcome redemption is short, because “it is the length of our life in this world”. And that may seem long, he underlines, recalling one day that he went to give the sacraments to an elderly patient: “at that time, before receiving the Eucharist for the anointing of the sick, he m said: my life has passed, I thought it was forever but my life blew me away. This is how old people feel, that life goes and steals, ”says the Pope.

Moreover, he emphasizes that “life” is a gift of the infinite love of God, “but it is also the moment of the verification of our love for him”. “For this reason, every moment, every moment of our existence is a precious moment to love God and his neighbor, and thus to enter into eternal life.”

The Lord calls us throughout our lives

Finally, the Pope recalls that the history of our life has two rhythms: one, measurable, made up of hours, days, years; and another, made up of the seasons of our development: birth, childhood, adolescence, maturity, old age, death. Francis assures us that “faith helps us to discover the spiritual meaning of these times”, since each of them contains a special call from the Lord, “to which we can give a positive or negative response”.

This is why he exhorts us to “be attentive” and “not to let Jesus pass without receiving him”, because as Saint Augustine said: “I am afraid of God when he passes, afraid of not recognizing him and not to accept it ”. Finally, his invitation to ask the Virgin Mary “to help us live each day, each moment, as a time of salvation in which the Lord passes and calls us to follow him. And help us to convert from the mentality of the world to that of love, which is fireworks, and of service ”.

The Lord calls us throughout our lives

Finally, the Pope recalls that the history of our life has two rhythms: one, measurable, made up of hours, days, years; and another, made up of the seasons of our development: birth, childhood, adolescence, maturity, old age, death. Francis assures us that “faith helps us to discover the spiritual meaning of these times”, since each of them contains a special call from the Lord, “to which we can give a positive or negative response”. This is why he invites us to ask the Virgin Mary “to help us live each day, each moment, as a time of salvation in which the Lord passes and calls us to follow him. And help us to convert from the mentality of the world to that of love and service ”.