Night of the sinner

Pope Francis

26.03.13 Holy Mass, Santa Marta

John 13: 21–33, 36–38


Everyone experiences the dark night of the sinner, but Jesus has an embrace for us all. The night envelops Judas, it also envelops his heart. It is the worst kind of night, the "night of the corrupt", a "definitive night, when the heart has closed in on itself” in a way that it “does not know how, does not want to" escape from.

The “night-time of the sinner” is different, it is "temporary" and it is a night with which “we are all familiar”. How many days of this night-time “have we known”, how many times has night fallen and cast our hearts in darkness.

It is at these times that hope appears and pushes us towards a new encounter with Jesus. “Do not be afraid”, “of this night-time of the sinner”. The most beautiful thing is to name the sin," confess our sins, and thus experience along with St. Paul who said that his glory was “Christ crucified in his sins. Why? Because he, in his sins, found Christ crucified who forgave him".


"In the middle of the 'night', the many 'nights', the many sins that we commit, because we are sinners, there is always the embrace of the Lord" that helps us say, "This is my glory. I am a poor sinner, but You are my Saviour." The same sweetness that is expressed in the look Christ turned on Peter, who had denied him. We think of how nice it is to be saints, but also how nice it is to be forgiven We trust in this encounter with Jesus "and" sweetness of his forgiveness

26.03.13