The Sign of the Cross reminds us how much God loves us, Pope Francis told pilgrims in St Peter's Square during his Angelus address on Sunday on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.
This simple gesture, that we learn as children, makes us feel God's embrace, that, with His Love and tenderness, envelops us completely, he said.
The Holy Father recalled that the day's Gospel is taken from Jesus' dialogue with Nicodemus, who was a member of the Sanhedrin, "passionate about the mystery of God," who recognized Jesus as "a divine master" and goes to speak to Him at night, in secret. Jesus, the Pope recalled, listened to him, saying that God loved humanity so much that He sent His Son into the world.
"Father and Son," the Pope said, is a familiar image that, if we think about it, disrupts our images of God, which often may seem "a singular, majestic and distant reality." Yet, this concept, of a Father and a Son, he said, "brings us back home."
The Pope said we can think of God through the image of "a family gathered around the table," where life is shared. "Besides, the table, which is also an altar," he pointed out, "is a symbol with which certain icons depict the Trinity. It is an image that speaks to us of a God of communion."
"But it is not only an image... it is reality! It is reality because the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that the Father poured into our hearts through Jesus, makes us taste, makes us savour God's presence: a presence that is always close, compassionate and tender."
The Holy Spirit does with us what Jesus does with Nicodemus, namely He introduces us to the mystery of new birth and reveals the heart of the Father to us, making us sharers in the very life of God.
"The invitation he extends to us, we might say, is to sit at the table with God to share in His love, which, he noted, is what happens "at every Mass, at the altar, where Jesus offers Himself to the Father and offers Himself for us."
"And do you know how we can remember this? With the simplest gesture, which we learnt as children: the sign of the cross."
"By tracing the cross," the Holy Father recalled, "we remind ourselves how much God loved us, to the point of giving His life for us; and we repeat to ourselves that His love envelops us completely, from top to bottom, from left to right, like an embrace that never abandons us."
The Pope encouraged those present, and following, to, in silence, make the sign of the cross.
"Today, then, we can ask ourselves: do we bear witness to God-as-love? Or has God-as-love become in turn a concept, something we have already heard, that no longer stirs provokes life?"
Pope Francis asked the faithful to question whether their communities bear witness to this. "Do they know how to love? And our family, do we know how to love within our family?" he asked.
The Pope noted that offering love, involves being merciful, keeping the door open, and making our communities a home for all.
"May Mary," the Pope said, before reciting the midday prayer, "help us to live the Church as that home where one loves in a familiar way, to the glory of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."