At the Angelus prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis urges Christians to embrace true faith and prayer that open our hearts and are never based on our prejudices.

Pope Francis prayed the noon-day Angelus on Sunday with pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, and reflected on the day’s Gospel (Jn 6:41-51).

Ahead of the traditional Marian prayer, the Pope noted that Jesus’ contemporaries refused to believe His word that He had “come down from heaven.”

Since they knew His father and mother, as well as His profession as a carpenter, they doubted that God could manifest Himself in such a familiar, ordinary way. “They were obstructed in their faith,” said the Pope, “by their preconception of His humble origins and the presumption, therefore, that they have nothing to learn from Him.”

 

Hardened hearts impede spiritual growth

Pope Francis noted how damaging prejudices and closure of heart can be for a person’s spiritual growth. He said Jesus’ contemporaries, as recounted in John’s Gospel, observed the law, pray, and fast, adding that they carried out these practices only to seek confirmation of what they already thought.

“This is demonstrated by the fact that they do not even take the trouble to ask Jesus for an explanation,” he said. “They limit themselves to murmuring among themselves against Him, as though to reassure each other of what they are convinced, closing themselves up as if in an impenetrable fortress.”

Their hardened hearts and prejudices, said the Pope, keep them from believing in God’s Son.

 

True faith and prayer open the heart, not close it

The Holy Father went on to warn that the same closure can happen to us when we pray only to find confirmation of our own convictions and judgments.

“True faith and prayer open the mind and the heart; they do not close them,” he said. “When you find a person who is closed in mind and prayer, their faith and prayer are not true.”

Pope Francis concluded his reflections at the Angelus by inviting everyone to ask ourselves if we are able to be truly silent before the Lord and welcome His voice. “May Mary help us to listen with faith to the Lord’s voice, and to do His will courageously.”