Pope Francis invites you to rediscover Jesus

Pope Francis invited the faithful who believe they know “too well Jesus” to rediscover his true face and to recognize him as “the bearer of a salvation announcement that no one else can give us.”

Before the faithful gathered in the Plaza de San Pedro this Sunday, Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel of St. Luke (cf. Lc 4.21), which presents Jesus in the Synagogue of Nazareth, the people where he grew up.

There, Jesus reads the passage of the prophet Isaiah announcing the evangelizing and liberating mission of the Messiah, and then, in the midst of general silence, he declares: “Today this writing has been fulfilled.”

“Let’s imagine the surprise and confusion of Jesus’ fellow citizens, who knew him as the son of the carpenter José and that they would never have thought that he could present himself as the Messiah, was a bewilderment,” said Pope Francis.

From the window of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Pontiff remarked that this was “a happy announcement for all, especially for the poor, the prisoners, the blind, the oppressed.”

In this sense, he stressed that in the synagogue “nobody could stop asking: is he only the son of the carpenter who attributes a role that does not correspond to him, or is the Messiah truly, sent by God to save the people of sin and of all evil? ”

The Holy Father stressed that “the Nazarenes failed to recognize in Jesus the consecrated of the Lord. They believed to know him too well, and that, instead of facilitating the opening of their minds and their hearts, blocked them, like a veil that darkens the light. ”

He affirmed that “the presence and words of Jesus question us” and that “we are also called to recognize the Son of God, our Savior.”

However, he pointed out that the same can happen to us today, “that we believe we already know him, that we already know everything about him: we have grown with him in school, in the parish, in the catechism, in a country of Catholic culture … And, in this way, also for us he is a close person, ‘too’ close. ”

Therefore, he invited the faithful to ask: “Do we notice the unique authority that Jesus of Nazareth speaks? Do we recognize that he is a carrier of a salvation announcement that no one else can give us? And I, are I in need of this salvation? I feel that, in some way, I am also poor, prisoner, blind, oppressed? Then, only then, the ‘year of grace’ will also be for me! ”, He exclaimed.

Finally, he encouraged to ask the Virgin Mary to recognize the face of the Son of God, “so that we do not scandalize ourselves from her humanity and her love for the little ones and the poor.”

“Let us ask Mary that in this jubilee year we can rediscover Jesus with a new astonishment and feel in our hearts a happy certainty: Yes, he is El Salvador!” Pope Francis concluded.