“God proposes: he does not impose, never,” the pope said.
Many of us, the pope said, are “intent on our own affairs.” The antidote to this indifference, Francis said, is Jesus, who “frees” us by inviting us to find “time to dedicate to God.”
That liberation “lightens and heals our hearts” and “saves us from evil, loneliness and loss of meaning.”
The pope reminded listeners that it is “good to be with the Lord, to make space for him,” including “in the Mass, in listening to the Word, in prayer and also in charity, because by helping those who are weak or poor, by keeping company with those who are lonely, by listening to those who ask for attention, by consoling those who suffer, one is with the Lord, who is present in those in need.”
“Many, however, think that these things are a ‘waste of time’, and so they lock themselves away in their private world; and it is sad,” he said.
After the Angelus, the pope touched on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.