Loved Sinners

Loved Sinners

When Pope Francis was asked, “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” he responded, “I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.” In the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, we are guided to recognize that we are “sinners yet loved.” Just as Pope Francis states, the Lord looks upon us with great love, and then calls us forth to share the love that we so mercifully receive.

Pope Francis has called an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. As we continue into this jubilee year and enter more fully into Lent, we are being invited to “wash ourselves clean” and “set things right.” God’s mercy and love are greater than any sin we may commit. How do I encounter God’s mercy in my life, as a sinner loved by God? How might I share God’s mercy with those around me?

—Marcos Gonzales, a Jesuit scholastic of the California province, is completing his masters of social work at Loyola University Chicago and interning with the Cook County Juvenile Probation Department.