Holy Father Pope Francis while addressing the faithful gathered for the Morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, reflected on how it is that those who pray to the Lord get what they ask for, in passages from the Gospel. His Holiness Pope Francis recalled that the Gospel readings from Mark tell of two healings, that of the leper and the paralytic. Both pray to receive, both do it with faith: the leper, underlined the Holy Father, also challenged Jesus with courage, saying: “If you want you can purify me!” And the Lord’s answer is immediate: “I want to”.
As reported by Vatican Radio, Holy Father Pope Francis remarked that “Always, when we approach the Lord to ask for something, we must start from faith and do it in faith: “I have faith that you can heal me, I believe you can do this” and have the courage to challenge you, like this leper, this paralytic. Pray in faith.” Further, His Holiness added, “Courage to fight to get to the Lord. Courage to have faith, at the beginning: “If you want you can heal me if you want, I believe ‘” And courage to get closer to the Lord, when there are difficulties. That courage … Many times, it takes patience and knowing how to wait for the moment, but do not give up, always go forward.”
His Holiness Pope Francis concluded his homily by reminding the faithful that “Christian prayer is born of faith in Jesus and always goes with faith beyond difficulties. A phrase to carry in our hearts today will help us, from our father Abraham, to whom the inheritance was promised, that is, to have a child at the age of 100.” And Holy Father also highlighted that if a prayer is not courageous, it is not Christian.
