The Church of Mercy by Pope Francis

silent tale of those who are suffering and of sustaining the steps of those who fear they may not make it; attentive to raising, to reassuring, and to instilling hope. Our faith emerges strengthened from sharing with the lowly. Let us therefore set aside every form of arrogance, to bend down to all whom the Lord has entrusted to our care.

PART FIVE
----
Full-Time Christians

18
Coming Out of Ourselves
----
General Audience, 27 March 2013
    What does being a Christian mean? What does following Jesus on his journey to Calvary on his way to the cross and the resurrection mean? In his earthly mission Jesus walked the roads of the Holy Land; he called twelve simple people to stay with him, to share his journey, and to continue his mission. He chose them from among the people full of faith in God’s promises. He spoke to all without distinction: the great and the lowly, the rich young man and the poor widow, the powerful and the weak; he brought God’s mercy and forgiveness; he healed, he comforted, he understood; he gave hope; he brought to all the presence of God who cares for every man and every woman, just as a good father and a good mother care for each one of their children. God does not wait for us to go to him, but it is he who moves toward us, without calculation, without quantification. That is what God is like. He always takes the first step; he comes toward us. Jesus lived the daily reality of the most ordinary people: he was moved as he faced the crowd that seemed like a flock without a shepherd; he wept before the sorrow that Martha and Mary felt at the death of their brother, Lazarus; he called a publican to be his disciple; he also suffered betrayal by a friend. In him God has given us the certitude that he is with us, that he is among us. “Foxes,” Jesus said, “have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20). Jesus has no house, because his house is the people; it is we who are his dwelling place; his mission is to open God’s doors to all, to be the presence of God’s love. In Holy Week we live the crowning moment of this journey, of this plan of love that runs through the entire history of the relations between God and humanity. Jesus enters Jerusalem to take his last step, with which he sums up the whole of his existence. He gives himself without reserve; he keeps nothing for himself, not even life. At the Last Supper, with his friends, he breaks the bread and passes the cup around “for us.” The Son of God offers himself to us; he puts his body and his blood into our hands, so as to be with us always, to dwell among us. And in the Garden of Olives, and likewise in the trial before Pilate, he puts up no resistance, he gives himself; he is the suffering Servant, foretold by Isaiah, who empties himself, even unto death (see Isa. 53:12).
    Jesus does not experience this love that leads to his sacrifice passively or as a fatal destiny. He does not, of course, conceal his deep human distress as he faces a violent death, but with absolute trust he commends himself to the Father. Jesus gave himself up to death voluntarily in order to reciprocate the love of God the Father, in perfect union with his will, to demonstrate his love for us. On the cross Jesus “loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Each one of us can say, “He loved me and gave himself for me.” Each one can say this “for me.”
    What is the meaning of all this for us? It means that this is my, your, and our road too—living Holy Week, following Jesus not only with the emotion of the heart. Living Holy Week, following Jesus, means learning to come out of ourselves in order to go to meet others, to go toward the outskirts of existence, to be the first to take a step toward our brothers and sisters, especially those who are the most distant, those who are forgotten, those who are most in need of understanding, comfort, and help. There is such a great need to bring the