Love transforms

In this world marked by violence and clashes, it is necessary to heal "the wounds of hatred" and "get out of the logic of self-interest".

Pope Francis at the Angelus on February 19 invites us not to respond to evil with evil: this is how conflicts are overcome. And he dedicates a thought to the victims of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey, and of the war in Ukraine, urging them to "concrete charity".

In the introduction, the Pontiff points out that the Lord admonishes: "If we remain in the ordinary, in the balance between giving and receiving, things do not change. If God were to follow this logic, we would have no hope of salvation! But, fortunately for us, God's love is always "extraordinary", it goes beyond the usual criteria with which we humans live our relationships".

Jesus is not a «good accountant: no! He always he leads to the imbalance of love. Let's not be surprised by this. If God hadn't unbalanced himself, we would never have been saved: it was the imbalance of the cross that saved us! As the Apostle Paul writes, “hardly anyone is willing to die for a just man; perhaps someone would dare to die for a good person. But God demonstrates his love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us ”».

God proposes to "get out of the logic of self-interest and not to measure love on the scale of calculations and conveniences. He invites us not to respond to evil with evil, to dare to do good, to risk giving, even if we receive little or nothing in return". Because it is "this love that slowly transforms conflicts, shortens distances, overcomes enmities and heals the wounds of hatred".

After the Marian Prayer, Jorge Mario Bergoglio underlines that "the love of Jesus asks us to let ourselves be touched by the situations of those who are tried. I am thinking especially of Syria and Turkey, of the many victims of the earthquake, but also of the daily tragedies of the dear Ukrainian people and of many peoples who suffer because of war or because of poverty, lack of freedom or environmental devastation: many peoples… ». The Bishop of Rome is "close in this sense to the population of New Zealand, hit by a devastating cyclone. Brothers and sisters, let us not forget those who suffer and let us make sure that our charity is attentive, it is a concrete charity!»

Domenico Agasso

NP Aprile 2023