It was September 21, 1953. Before attending a celebration, young Bergoglio went to confession. That experience of mercy became a defining moment in his life.
(Vatican News) On September 21, 70 years ago, the young Pope Francis initiated his vocation to the priesthood. It was 1953, when 17-year-old Jorge Mario Bergoglio went to attend a student celebration in Argentina. That day was also the day when the church liturgy commemorated St. Matthew, the tax collector whom Jesus called to be his disciple. After being elected pope, Bergoglio mentioned his calling experience and wrote:
“Before going to the service, I passed by the church where I often go and met a priest I didn’t know, and I felt the need to go to confession. This was an encounter experience for me: I felt that someone was waiting for me. But I don’t know what happened, I don’t remember, I really don’t know why that priest I didn’t know was there, why I felt the desire to go to confession, but there was someone waiting for me. Him. It took me a long time. After going to confession, I felt that something had changed. I was different from before.
I heard a voice, a call: I was convinced that I should become a priest. This experience of faith is very important. We say that we must seek God and go to Him to ask for forgiveness, but when we get there He is already waiting for us, He came first! In Spanish we have a word that explains this very well: ‘The Lord always goes before us’, He is the first to arrive, He is waiting for us! This is truly a great grace: to meet someone who is waiting for you. You go there a sinner, but He is waiting for you so that He can forgive you.” (Prayer Vigil on Pentecost, May 18, 2013)
Bergoglio’s vocation was born out of an experience of God’s mercy. Indeed, after he was elected pope, he also adopted “chosen by charity” as the motto of his pastoral ministry. Pope Francis has repeatedly mentioned Caravaggio’s famous painting “The Calling of Matthew” stored in the Church of St. Louis the King of France in Rome, and said that he was often attracted by this painting. The Pope talked about Matthew’s experience of being called and shared his reflections:
When Jesus saw Matthew sitting at the customs house, he looked at him and said to him, “Follow me!” And he got up and followed Jesus. The painter Caravaggio painted Matthew with a distrustful gaze: he “clasped the money tightly and squinted, looking at God with one eye and the money with the other, frowning”; on the other side But it is the compassionate look of Jesus, extremely loving. Matthew, a man who wanted money, was overcome: he got up and followed Jesus. “This is the struggle between mercy and sin.”
The love of Jesus can enter that person’s heart because “he knows that he is a sinner” and knows that “he is not loved by anyone” and is even despised. It is this sinner consciousness that opens the door to the encounter with the mercy of Jesus. For this reason, he gave up everything and followed Jesus. This is the sinner’s encounter with Jesus.
The first condition for salvation is to admit that you are in danger, the first condition for being healed is to admit that you are sick, and the first condition for receiving the look of mercy is to admit that you are a sinner. Let’s look at Jesus’ gaze, it’s so beautiful, so kind. We also feel this gaze upon us when we pray. It is the look of love, the look of compassion. This is the sight that saves us, let us not be afraid.
We have to admit that we are sinners; we are guilty, and our sin is not abstract but concrete. We all have sins. We want Jesus to look at us with eyes filled with love and compassion. (Homily at Morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, September 21, 2017)
Pope Francis briefly describes his calling as Matthew did. He summarized it this way: “The finger of Jesus points to Matthew like this. It points to me like this, and I feel the same way, just like Matthew.” Here the Pope lets this painting judge him, as if he realizes that it is himself he is looking for image: “What struck me was Matthew’s gesture: he grabbed his money, as if to say: ‘No, not me! No, this money is mine!’ Look, this is me: ‘The Lord uses His The sinner whose eyes are upon him.’ This was my answer to the question whether I would accept my election as pope.” Then the pope whispered in Latin: “I am a sinner, but I trust infinitely in our Lord Jesus Christ. Charity and patience, in the spirit of penance, I accept.” (Pope Francis’ interview with Father Xi Andong, August 19, 2013)
Link URL:www.vaticannews.cn
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2023-09-21 12:15:17
