![]() As he gave confession, he sensed a calling to the priesthood for the first time ever. On the morning of 21 September 1953, for no particular reason, he decided to enter the church of San José de Flores and there he found a priest whom he had never met before. Today marks 62 years since that life-changing moment that he himself refers to as the start of his priestly vocation. In doing so, he thought above all of his own situation. I ask you, in your homes or in the Church, to be still for a moment and to recall with gratitude and happiness those situations, that moment, when the merciful gaze of God was felt in our lives.”įrancis briefly interrupted his homily, asking everyone for a moment of silence “to recall with gratitude and happiness those situations, that moment, when the merciful gaze of God was felt in our lives”. Each of us can say: “I, too, am a sinner, whom Jesus has looked upon”. This is our story, and it is like that of so many others. “Even if we do not dare raise our eyes to the Lord, he looks at us first. The same thing happened “to Zacchaeus, to Bartimaeus, to Mary Magdalen, to Peter, and to each of us”. “And this look unlocked Matthew’s heart, it set him free, it healed him, it gave him hope, a new life.” He looked at him with eyes of mercy he looked at him as no one had ever looked at him before.”. “One could hardly eat, speak or pray with the likes of these.” But Jesus went up to Matthew, looked at him “calmly, peacefully. Publicans were looked down upon and considered sinners as such, they lived apart and were despised by others. He collected taxes from the Jews to give to the Romans. Matthew, Francis explained, was a publican. ![]() Francis focused for a minute on the “exchange of glances” that transformed the sinner’s life. ![]() They are far from any cultural, ideological or religious militancy.Īt the heart of the scene is “this encounter which changed Matthew’s life”. ![]() His words and images reflect the unique and incomparable energy of the Christian experience and mission. His homily today resembled an intimate profession of his own faith. When he would visit Rome as a bishop and cardinal, he would often go to contemplate Caravaggio’s depiction of that scene that is on display in the Church of St. The Argentinian Pope has said on many occasions that he recognises himself in that “forgiven sinner”. In his Gospel, he describes Jesus’ surprise move when he sees the tax collector in his booth and calls to him to follow him, to the shock of the scribes and Pharisees. Matthew, the dishonest and despised publican who worked with the Romans but then became an apostle and an evangelist. On the third day of his visit to Cuba, Pope Francis celebrated mass in Holguín’s Revolution Square.Today is the feast day of St. Only the experience of that merciful gaze can make us merciful as well and make us come out of our shell, as was the case with the apostles. Faith begins in us when Jesus looks at us. ![]()
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