Jul 10, 2011 / 10:54 am
God always respects human freedom and never compels anybody into a relationship with him. That was the message of Pope Benedict XVI in his midday Angelus address July 10.
“God does not force us to believe in Him, but draws us to Himself through the truth and goodness of his incarnate Son. Love, in fact, always respects freedom,” Pope Benedict said from the balcony of his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, 15 miles southeast of Rome.
The Pope based his conclusion upon the story told by Jesus in today’s Gospel reading: the parable of the sower who plants seed with different degrees of success.
He said that for Jesus the parable was “autobiographical” because “it reflects the experience of Jesus himself and of his preaching” as “different effects are achieved depending on the kind of reception given to the proclamation.”