Failure to repent sin is fundamental problem, Pope tells congregation
May 17, 2013
“The problem is not that we are sinners,” Pope Francis told the congregation at his morning Mass on May 17. “The problem is not repenting of sin, not being ashamed of what we have done.”
In his homily the Pope reflect on the day’s Gospel reading, which told of Jesus asking Peter three times if he loves Him. The three queries, the Pope observed, parallel the three times that Peter denied Jesus.
St. Peter has the humility to acknowledge his sinfulness readily and completely, the Pope remarked. He reminded the congregation that the same virtue had been on display much earlier. When Jesus shocked him with the rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan!” the Pope pointed out: “Peter accepted this humiliation.”
“Peter was a sinner, but not corrupt, eh?” the Pope said. St. Peter, he said, had the nobility of heart to recognize his sin, weep over it, and come back to Jesus to express his sorrow and his love. St. Peter, the Pope said, had learned to be shaped by his encounters with Christ.
Pope Francis concluded that “it is important that we let ourselves encounter the Lord: He always seeks us, He is always near us.”
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