Pope proposes to cultivate virtues: "The human being is made for the good".On the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the Pope reflected on today's Gospel, in which Jesus explains that "on his Cross, we shall see his glory and that of the Father."
Francis dwelled on this apparent paradox: "But how is it possible that the glory of God is manifested precisely there, on the Cross? One might think that this would happen in the Resurrection, not on the Cross, which is a defeat, a failure. Instead, today Jesus, speaking of his Passion, says: 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified' (v. 23). What does he want to tell us?
The answer lies in the fact that, for Jesus, to glorify oneself is to love and to give oneself: "He wants to tell us that glory, for God, does not correspond to human success, to fame or popularity: there is nothing self-referential about it, it is not a grandiose manifestation of power followed by the applause of the public. For God, glory is to love to the point of giving one's life. To glorify Himself, for Him, means to give Himself, to make Himself accessible, to offer His love. And this happened in a culminating way on the Cross, where Jesus displayed God's love to the full, fully revealing his face of mercy, giving us his life and forgiving those who crucified him".
In this sense, the Pontiff commented that the Cross is the "seat of God": "From the Cross, 'seat of God,' the Lord teaches us that true glory, that which never fades and makes us happy, is made of surrender and forgiveness. Surrender and forgiveness are the essence of God's glory. And they are for us the way of life. Surrender and forgiveness: very different criteria from what we see around us, and also in us, when we think of glory as something to receive rather than to give; as something to possess rather than to offer. But worldly glory passes and leaves no joy in the heart; it does not even lead to the good of all, but to division, discord, envy".
After inviting us to reflect on what glory we seek in this life, whether to please the world or God, the Pope concluded by recalling that "when we give and forgive, the glory of God shines in us" and asking Mary's intercession: "May the Virgin Mary, who followed Jesus in faith at the hour of the Passion, help us to be living reflections of the love of Jesus".
At the end of the Angelus, the Pope spoke of the religious freed in Haiti, who were kidnapped on February 23, and asked for the release of the other two religious and the other people still being held hostage.
On the other hand, he recalled that we must continue to pray for the end of wars, mentioning in particular those in Ukraine, Palestine and Israel, South Sudan and Syria, "a country that has been suffering so much from war for so long".
Francis also greeted the various groups present, with a special mention of the marathon runners participating in the Solidarity Run. Finally, as usual, the Pope asked the faithful present not to forget to pray for him.
