The Pontiff continued his cycle of catecheses on the Letter to the Galatians. This time, he reflected on the transforming power of divine grace.
Vatican City (30/06/2021 7:55 PM Gaudium Press) At the General Audience on Wednesday, June 30, Pope Francis continued his meditation on the texts of the Letter to the Galatians and how Christians should live their Faith.
The truth of the Gospel and the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle
St. Paul addresses this community, indicating that each one must “build the true identity on which to base their existence. And this is the principle: to reaffirm the newness of the Gospel, of that which the Galatians received from him.”
When problems arise in a community, it is unnecessary to dwell on its superficiality but to go deeper into the “truth of the Gospel.”
To the Galatians, St. Paul “recounts the story of his vocation and conversion, which coincided with the apparition of the Risen Christ during the journey to Damascus (cf. Acts 9:1-9). ‘I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.’ (Gal 1:13-14)”.
God’s mercy in St. Paul’s story
St Paul tells his story so that the Galatians and everyone else will see God’s mercy with him. A kind of mercy that God is willing to use with everyone, causing us to be radically transformed.
“God, by His grace, had revealed to him His Son who had died and rose again, so that he could become a herald among the Gentiles (cf. Gal 1:15-6)” the Pope said. “How inscrutable are the ways of the Lord! We experience this every day, but especially if we think back to the times when the Lord called us,” he said.
Nothing happens by chance; God weaves our story
“Let us keep fixed in our hearts and minds that encounter with grace, when God changed our existence. How often, in the face of the Lord’s great works, does the question arise: but how is it possible that God uses a sinner, a frail and weak person, to do His will? And yet, none of this happens by chance, because everything has been prepared in God’s plan. He weaves our history, the story of each one of us: He weaves our history and, if we correspond with trust to His plan of salvation, we realize it,” He noted.
The Pope concluded his address by pointing out that the call of the Creator always entails a mission to which we are destined, a mission to which God sends us and sustains us with His grace: “let us allow ourselves to be led by this awareness: the primacy of grace transforms existence and makes it worthy of being placed at the service of the Gospel.” (EPC)
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The Pontiff continued his cycle of catecheses on the Letter to the Galatians. This time, he reflected on the transforming power of divine grace.
The post God is willing to use his grace to transform us, says Pope Francis appeared first on Gaudium Press.Read MoreRome, Letter to the Galatians, Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, story of St. Paul, MISERICITY OF GOD, truth of the GospelGaudium Press