Here, said the Pope, they "arrive at a pile of prescriptions and for them this is salvation: they have lost the key to intelligence which, in this case, is the gratuitousness of salvation". In reality, "the law is a response to God's gratuitous love: it is He who has taken the initiative to save us, and because you have loved me so much, I try to go your way, the way you have shown me", in a word "I fulfil the law". But 'it is a response' because 'the law, always, is a response and when one forgets the gratuitousness of salvation one falls, one loses the key to the intelligence of salvation history'.

And, again, the Pontiff relaunched, those people "have lost the key to intelligence because they have lost the sense of God's closeness: for them God is the one who made the law" but "this is not the God of revelation". In reality "the God of revelation is God who began to walk with us from Abraham to Jesus Christ: God who walks with his people". Therefore "when we lose this close relationship with the Lord, we fall into this obtuse mentality that believes in the self-sufficiency of salvation through the fulfilment of the law".

Precisely "today's Gospel passage points out two of them", was the reply. "First of all the closure: 'You did not enter, and those who wanted to enter, you prevented'". Yes, 'these people closed the door to the faithful and the faithful did not understand: they, all their moral theology, made intellectual mannerism, but it did not reach the people and, with that, they drove people away. No, this is not the religion I wanted: this is not the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ'. And, the Pontiff pointed out, "I am thinking here of the responsibility we pastors have: when we pastors lose or take away the key to intelligence, we close the door to ourselves and to others".

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 20/10/2017]

Memory of Gratuitousness

May the Lord give us memory of the "gratuitousness" of salvation and of God's closeness and of the concreteness of the works of mercy that he wants from us, whether "material or spiritual": in this way we will become people who help to "open the door" to ourselves and to others. This is the Pope's prayer at morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta. Taking his cue from today's Gospel passage from Luke, in which the scribes and Pharisees considered themselves righteous and Jesus made them realise that God alone is righteous, Francis explained why the doctors of the law had "taken away knowledge," with the "consequence" of "not entering the Kingdom and not even letting others enter."

"This taking away of the ability to understand God's revelation, to understand God's heart, to understand God's salvation — the key to knowledge — we can say is a grave forgetfulness. They forget the gratuitousness of salvation; they forget God's closeness and they forget God's mercy. And those who forget the gratuitousness of salvation, God's closeness and God's mercy, have taken away the key to knowledge."

Gratuitousness has therefore been 'forgotten'. It is 'God's initiative to save us, and instead they side with the law': salvation, says the Pope, 'is there for them', thus arriving at 'a pile of prescriptions' that in fact become salvation. But in this way, 'they do not receive the power of God's justice'. The law, on the other hand, is always "a response to God's gratuitous love", who took "the initiative" to save us. And, Francis adds, "when we forget the gratuitousness of salvation, we fall, we lose the key to understanding the history of salvation", losing "the sense of God's closeness".

"For them, God is the one who made the law. And this is not the God of revelation. The God of revelation is the God who began to walk with us from Abraham to Jesus Christ, the God who walks with his people. And when this close relationship with the Lord is lost, one falls into this obtuse mentality that believes in the self-sufficiency of salvation through the fulfilment of the law. The closeness of God."

In fact, when God's closeness is lacking, when prayer is lacking, the Pope points out, "you cannot teach doctrine" or even "do theology," much less "moral theology." Francis reiterates that theology "is done on one's knees, always close to God." And the closeness of the Lord reaches "the highest point of Jesus Christ crucified," since we have been "justified" by the blood of Christ, as St. Paul says. For this reason, the Pope explains, works of mercy "are the touchstone of the fulfilment of the law," because they touch the flesh of Christ, "touch Christ who suffers in a person, both physically and spiritually." He also warns that when the key to knowledge is lost, "corruption" also ensues. Finally, the Pope reflects on the "responsibility" of pastors in the Church today: when they lose or take away "the key of understanding," they close "the door to us and to others."

"In my country, I have heard many times of parish priests who did not baptise the children of single mothers because they were not born in canonical marriage. They closed the door, scandalising the people of God. Why? Because the hearts of these parish priests had lost the key to knowledge. Without going so far back in time and space, three months ago, in a village, in a city, a mother wanted to have her newborn son baptised, but she was civilly married to a divorced man. The parish priest said: 'Yes, yes. I will baptise the child. But your husband is divorced. He must remain outside; he cannot be present at the ceremony." This happens today. The Pharisees, the doctors of the law, are not things of the past; there are many of them today. This is why we need to pray for us pastors. Pray that we do not lose the key to knowledge and do not close the door to ourselves and to the people who want to enter."

[Giada Aquilino, in:

https://www.vaticannews.va/it/papa-francesco/messa-santa-marta/2017-10/papa-a-santa-marta--gratuita-della-salvezza-di-dio-apre-porta-ag.html]