God grieves when “we go away from Him . . . when we destroy ourselves with sin, are disoriented, lost,” said Pope Francis during the Mass at Saint Martha’s on February 4, 2020. Jesus grieves, “because we don’t let Him love us.”
In his homily, the Pope meditated on King David’s grief after the death of his son. “My son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you.” “But why do you mourn?” he was asked. (Your son) was against you, he denied you; he denied your paternity, he insulted you, he persecuted you, so rather celebrate, because you defeated him!”
The Holy Father explained that David’s tears “are a historical fact but also a prophecy. They show us God’s heart; what the Lord does when we go away from Him; what the Lord does when we destroy ourselves with sin, are disoriented, lost. The Lord is Father and He never denies this paternity: ‘My son, my son.’”
So, to go to confession is to “go to the Father who mourns for me.” “The love of a Father that God has for us is so great that He died in our place. He made Himself man and died for us. When we look at the crucifix, let us think of that “Why did I not die in your place?” And let us hear the voice of the Father who says to us through the Son: ‘My son, my son.’ God doesn’t disown His children. God doesn’t negotiate His paternity.”
“It will do us good, in the bad moment of life — we all have them — in moments of sin, in moments of estrangement from God, to hear this voice in our heart: ‘My son, my daughter, what are you doing? Please, don’t kill yourself. I died for you,’” concluded the Pontiff.
