The desert will bloom, the blind see, the deaf hear. The first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, "speaks to us of renewal." Everything will be changed "from the ugly to the beautiful, the good from the bad."
"A change for the better": this was what the people of Israel expected from the Messiah. And Jesus, as shown in today's Gospel, healed, "showed a path of change to the people and that's why people followed him."
They did not follow him, he said, "because he was relevant: They followed him because the message of Jesus struck their heart." And then "the people saw that Jesus healed and followed him" for that too.
"But what Jesus did was not only a change from ugly to beautiful, from bad to good: Jesus brought transformation. He did not beautify a problem, he did not cover it up or mask it: He changed everything from within! He changed through re-creation: God created the world; man fell into sin; Jesus came to re-create the world. And this is the message, the message of the Gospel, we can clearly see it: before healing man, Jesus forgives his sins. He goes there, to re-create, re-create man from the condition of sinner: He re-creates him as just . He does it again, totally new. And this shocked people: this scandalized! "
This is why the doctors of the Law "began to argue, to murmur" because they could not accept his authority. Jesus "is capable of making us - us sinners - new people." Mary Magdalene sensed this, she was healthy, "but he had a wound inside: she was a sinner." She realized then, that this "man could not heal the body, but the wounded soul. He could re-create it! And this takes so much faith. "
The Lord "help us to prepare for Christmas with great faith", "because the healing of the soul, for the existential healing, the re-creation that Jesus brings takes great faith."
"Being transformed this is the healthy grace that leads us to Jesus." We must overcome the temptation to say "I cannot do it", but let us instead, allow ourselves to be "transformed", "re-created by Jesus." "Courage" is the word of God. "We are all sinners, but look at the root of your sin and the Lord will go down there and re-create; and make the bitter root bloom, flourish with the works of justice; and you'll be a new man, a new woman. But if we: 'Yes, yes, I have of sins; I go, I confess ... a few words, and then I continue on like before ... ', I will not be re-created by the Lord. Only two strokes of paint and we believe that’s an end to the story! No! My sins, name and surname: I did this, this, this and I feel ashamed in my heart! And I open my heart: 'Lord. Re-create me!. This is how we find the courage to go forward with true faith - as we are asked - towards Christmas. "
The Pope added "we try to hide the seriousness of our sins." For example, when we diminish envy. This, however, said Francis "is a terrible thing! It 's like the snake's poison "that seeks" to destroy the other. "
The Pope encourages, therefore, to "get to the bottom of our sins and then give them to the Lord, so that he can erase them and help us to move forward with faith." He underlined this passage, telling a story of a saint, a "Bible scholar" who had very strong character, with a lot of pent up anger and who would ask forgiveness from the Lord, making many sacrifices and penances.
"The Saint, talking to the Lord would say, 'Are you happy, Lord?' - 'No!' - 'But I gave you everything!' - 'No, something is missing ...'. And this poor man did another penance, another prayer, another vigil: 'I gave you this, Lord? Okay? '-' No! Something is missing ... '-' But what's missing, Lord? '-' Your sins! Give me your sins! '. This is what, today, the Lord asks us: 'Come on! Give me your sins, and I will make you a new man and a new woman '. May the Lord give us the faith to believe it. "