16 March 2016 | General Audience

POPE FRANCIS: GENERAL AUDIENCE

[…] We too can experience a sort of exile at times, when loneliness, suffering, death make us think we have been abandoned by God. How often have we heard these words “God has forgotten me” said by people who suffer and feel abandoned. Yet how many of our brothers and sisters at this time are living out an actual and dramatic situation of exile, far from their homeland, still shocked by the ruins of their homes, with fear in their heart and often, sadly, mourning the loss of loved ones! In these cases you might ask yourself: where is God? How is it possible that so much suffering can afflict innocent men, women and children? When they try to enter by some other route, the door is closed to them. They are there, at the border because so many doors and so many hearts have closed. Today’s migrants who suffer the cold, are without food. They cannot enter. They do not feel welcome. It really pleases me when I hear and see that nations and authorities open hearts and open doors! […]