Vatican, 09 July, 2023 / 8:16 pm (ACI Africa).
The residents of three rich cities in the time of Jesus were incapable of marveling at his works and message, Pope Francis noted, seeing in their example a warning for the faithful of today.
Before praying the midday Angelus with a large crowd in St. Peter’s Square on this very warm Sunday, the Pope considered Jesus’s “very beautiful prayer” addressed to the Father and recounted in the Mass of today: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.”
The Pope reflected on two questions about Jesus’s prayer: What are these “things” and who were they hidden from?
To answer the first question, the Pope noted that just before this passage Jesus recalled some of his works, including healings.
“The message, then, is clear. Let us not forget this,” Pope Francis said. “God reveals himself by liberating and healing the human person, with a gratuitous love that saves. This is why Jesus thanks his father, because his greatness consists in his love and he never works outside of love.”