Pope Francis Speaks of God's Goodness and Mercy While in the Holy Land

CLEVELAND - June 11, 2014 - PRLog -- In his homily to priests, religious, and seminarians while in the Holy Land last month, Pope Francis gave wise advice - and asked tough questions. We picked some quotes from his homily on May 26th at Jerusalem's Church of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives.

We, the Mercedarian Sisters, were especially struck by the Holy Father's reminder of "the grandeur of God's call and of own littleness", yet God always provides us the necessary graces to rise to His highest calling! In serving others through our order's charism of teaching and education, we, as simple sisters, become instruments of God's glory! All of us as Catholics are called to respond "yes" to God's invitation to be used as His wonderful instruments.

On Our Own Response to Jesus' Mission:

"At the hour which God had appointed to save humanity from its enslavement to sin, Jesus came here, to Gethsemane, to the foot of the Mount of Olives... Am I among those who, when Jesus asks them to keep watch with him, fall asleep instead, and rather than praying, seek to escape, refusing to face reality? ...

Or, thanks be to God, do I find myself among those who remained faithful to the end, like the Virgin Mary and the Apostle John? On Golgotha, when everything seemed bleak and all hope seemed pointless, only love proved stronger than death. The love of the Mother and the beloved disciple made them stay at the foot of the Cross, sharing in the pain of Jesus, to the very end.

Do I recognize myself in those who imitated their Master to the point of martyrdom, testifying that he was everything to them, the incomparable strength sustaining their mission and the ultimate horizon of their lives?

Jesus' friendship with us, his faithfulness and his mercy, are a priceless gift which encourages us to follow him trustingly, notwithstanding our failures, our mistakes, also our betrayals."

On God's Help During Temptation:

"But the Lord's goodness does not dispense us from the need for vigilance before the Tempter, before sin, before the evil and the betrayal which can enter even into the religious and priestly life. We are all exposed to sin, to evil, to betrayal. We are fully conscious of the disproportion between the grandeur of God's call and of own littleness, between the sublimity of the mission and the reality of our human weakness. Yet the Lord in his great goodness and his infinite mercy always takes us by the hand lest we drown in the sea of our fears and anxieties. He is ever at our side, he never abandons us. And so, let us not be overwhelmed by fear or disheartened, but with courage and confidence let us press forward in our journey and in our mission."

Let us continue to pray for the Church and her members, that God will shower us with His graces! You can read Pope Francis' entire homily on the Vatican's website. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/may/documents/papa-francesco_20140526_terra-santa-religiosi.html

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Sr. Jeanette Marie, HMSS
Vocations Director