Pope Francis: God is not indifferent to human suffering

During his weekly General Audience with pilgrims in St Peter's Square on Wednesday, Pope Francis spoke about God's mercy throughout history, and in our own day. He noted that the Lord always accompanied the people of Israel, and continues to work in our own time as well. Pointing to the story of Joseph and his brothers as an example of grace and reconciliation, Pope Francis said the Jubilee Year of Mercy was a good opportunity to reconcile with family members.

The example of Moses, who led the Israelites from slavery to freedom, shows that "mercy cannot remain indifferent in the face of the suffering of the oppressed, the cry of those subject to violence, reduced to slavery, condemned to death." Suffering is a reality in every age, a reality that can make us feel impotent, and tempt us to indifference. But, Pope Francis said, "God is not indifferent, He never looks away from human suffering." The God of mercy hears the groaning of the poor and intervenes to save them, especially by "raising up men and women able to hear the cries of the suffering, and working in favour of the oppressed."

As Moses was God's instrument leading the people of Israel to freedom, we too, especially in this Year of Mercy, can be mediators of God's mercy. "There are so many good things we can do!" the Pope said.

Turning again to the history of the people of Israel, Pope Francis spoke of how God made a covenant with the people, creating a special, privileged relationship with them. This special relationship, brought to fulfilment through the Blood of Christ, "destroys our sin through forgiveness, and makes us definitively children of God." Pope Francis concluded his address with the hope that, in this Year of Mercy, we too, precisely because of the mercy God has shown us, might cooperate with God in accomplishing works of mercy.

Pope Francis went to make a special appeal for suffering Christians in the Middle East. "God does not remain silent before the suffering and cries of His children," he said, "nor does He remain silent before injustice and persecution: He rather intervenes and gives, by His mercy, rescue and salvation."
"God uses patience with the sinner," the Holy Father continued, "to induce him to conversion, and he searches for the lost sheep, for, "God will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:4)"

Pope Francis has been a vocal advocate for the rights of religious minorities around the world, and particularly of Christians in the Middle East, where ancient Christian communities are suffering often brutal and deadly persecution, particularly at the hands of militants fighting for IS/Daish.

Pope Francis concluded his remarks to Arabic-speaking pilgrims with a blessing and an invocation of Divine protection. "God bless you all," he said, "and protect you from the Evil One."

Source: VIS/Vatican Radio