Pope Francis is warning that “many, many” people are enslaving themselves under the pretext of being free.
The Pope said this Saturday at the jubilee audience of this month — these jubilee audiences are being held one Saturday a month as part of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
Citing 1 Peter 1:18-21, the Holy Father stressed that the word “redemption” is important.
“It seems that the man of today no longer likes to think of being liberated and saved by God’s intervention. In fact, the man of today deceives himself about his freedom,” he said.
Francis said that “illusions are sold under the pretext of freedom” and “new slaves are created in our days in the name of a false liberty! – so many, many slaves.”
The Pope said these people might boast, “I do this because I want to; I take drugs because I like to, I’m free.”
In fact, he exclaimed, “they are slaves! They become slaves in the name of freedom.”
“We are in need of God freeing us from every sort of indifference, egoism and self-sufficiency,” he added.
“He is the Lamb that was sacrificed for us, so that we could receive a new life made up of forgiveness, love and joy. These three words are beautiful: forgiveness, love and joy. Everything He assumed was also redeemed, freed and saved. It is certainly true that life tries us and sometimes we suffer because of this. However, in these moments we are invited to direct our gaze to Jesus crucified, who suffers for us and with us, as sure proof that God does not abandon us. Therefore, let us never forget that in anguishes and persecutions, as well as daily sorrows, we are always liberated by God’s merciful hand, who raises us to Himself and leads us to a new life.”
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full text: https://zenit.org/articles/jubilee-audience-on-redemption/
