Vatican City, Mar 14, 2010 / 11:21 am
Presiding over the mid-day Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the day's Gospel that presents the parable of the prodigal son. He explained that “only experiencing forgiveness, recognizing ourselves loved by a free love, greater than our misery, but also our justice, can we finally enter into a truly filial and free relationship with God.”
In his address before the Angelus on this fourth Sunday of Lent, the Holy Father asked, “What would our culture, art and, more generally, our civilization be without this revelation of a Father God, full of mercy? The parable never stops moving us and every time we hear it or read it, it is capable of suggesting new meanings to us.”
Benedict XVI stated that “this evangelical text has the power to speak to us about God, to show us his face, better yet, his heart. After Jesus spoke to us of the merciful Father, things are no longer as they were, now we know God. He is our Father that out of love made us free and endowed us with a conscience, (one) that suffers if we get lost and rejoices if we return.”
For this, continued the Pope, “the relation with Him is built through a history, similarly to what happens with each child and their parents: in the beginning he depends on them, later he claims his own autonomy and finally – if there is positive development – reaches a mature relationship, based on recognition and true love.