Jesus is always our advocate, Pope tells audience
April 17, 2013
At his weekly public audience on April 17, Pope Francis exhorted the faithful to keep in mind that Jesus “always defends us,” and even “defends us from ourselves.”
“He always forgives us. He is our Advocate,” the Pope said. “He defends us always. Never forget this!”
In his address to the 70,000 people who gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly catechetical audience, the Pope spoke on the phrase from the Apostle’s Creed affirming that Jesus “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” Anyone who is summoned to appear before a judge wants a capable defender, the Pontiff said, and in Jesus the faithful have the ideal advocate.
When Jesus rose into heaven, Pope Francis said, his departure did not cause an absence. On the contrary, because He is no longer at any specific place, Jesus “is now in the domain of God, present in every space and time, close to each one of us.”
Having ascended to heaven, the Pope said, Jesus is “like the leader of a mountain climbing party that is roped together. He has reached the summit and pulls us to himself, leading us to God.”
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